RPC-769 - RPC Authority

RPC-769

tagnone

Registered Phenomena Code: 769

Containment Rating: Beta

Lethality Rating: Orange

Aggression

Grouped

Sapient

Bio-Hazard

Ideological

Mind-Control

Animated

Organic

Containment Protocols: A 5-kilometre exclusion zone is to be established around RPC-769. ASF Guards are to patrol the perimeter taking 3 hour turns and stand at their assigned guard posts through 5 hours intervals every 24 hours. At no point should personnel be exposed to Viderics without permission from the Head Security Officer.

RPC-769-A instances are to be terminated upon detection unless otherwise specified¹ on scheduled sweeps by Containment Personnel utilising Mark IV Personal Reality Stabilisation Devices.

Containment Specialists during a scheduled sweep of RPC-769-A instances.

Any and all sightings of RPC-769-B by any member of personnel on the field must be reported with the utmost urgency to the Chief Researcher; personnel are authorised to devise a course of action to either observe, study, communicate, apprehend, or terminate the anomaly.

Any operation dedicated to interacting with the population of RPC-769-1 instances must include no less than 8 units, with at least 5 armed ASF guards tasked with protecting the exploration team and maintaining contact with the higher command.

Description: RPC-769 is a memetic inter-plane aperture located within the Șoimoș Fortress in Arad, Romania. It can only be rationalised into the basic-reality spectrum through the consumption of RPC-769-A or High-Class Viderics.

The Șoimoș Fortress as it appears today, outside of the anomaly.

RPC-769-A are insectoid creatures similar to worker ants covered in fungal spores concealed as specimen of Glycine max² indistinguishable from those commonly found in nature, which solely reproduce in the vicinities of the RPC-769 fracture. When a subject consumes an instance of RPC-769-A, they are transmuted into an instance of RPC-769-1. This process is, as of now, irreversible.

RPC-769-1 entities are members of any Animalia species that have consumed RPC-769-A. These instances have organised themselves in a cult, worshipping the entity designated as RPC-769-B through communal and/or orgiastic rituals. As of now, all observed instances have been limited to former humans and dogs. RPC-769-1 instances share various traits:

Severe swelling of the thyroidal glands.
Varying cases of obesity.³
Hair loss, scars, dehydration,⁴ various types of skin diseases/tumours.
Tattoos and/or engravings on the skin, alongside other marks, some depicting RPC-769-B.
Limited or absent recollection of past experiences.

As of today, the cult is comprised of 33 RPC-769-1 instances.

RPC-769-B is the creator of all RPC-769-A specimens. Most, if not all, of the information available on RPC-769-B results from conflicting historical documentation and information gathered from the cult itself. Superficial depictions of it represent a male human with bat wings, long hair, with seeds in one hand and a staff in the other, usually accompanied by wolves and snakes feasting upon doves and sheep. RPC-769-B has only been observed once in history.⁵

Documentation and Discovery: Documentation of RPC-769 may date back to Antiquity: in Ancient Greece, the story of a group of people called Lotus⁶ Eaters or Lotophagi is found in book IX of Homer’s Odyssey. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Lotus-Eaters resided on the coasts of Libya.

The first confirmed contact with RPC-769 occurred in 1458, where the anomaly currently resides. Auctoritas Imperata agents, while investigating the cause of various disappearances around the Arad region at the hands of what the locals considered to be a group of creatures popular in Balkan Folklore called Ala that had come from Bulgaria, they were deemed missing after not reporting back to the Vatican for more than two weeks. After requesting support from the Christian Order of the Dracul,⁷ Wallachian Voivode Vlad III “Tepęs” Hagyak⁸ organised an expedition.

Auctoritas agents were found rogue in the proximities of the Șoimoș Fortress and were promptly impaled as they proclaimed themselves servants of the “Prince of Darkness”. Furthermore, a small contingency accessed the castle after inadvertently consuming RPC-769-A instances.⁹ Only one survivor, Officer Adam Dragomir, was capable of escaping after two days of captivity. He was later able to write a report that was then sent to the Vatican.¹⁰

Addendum 769.1: The following is a major excerpt of Officer Dragomir’s report:

Access File

Close File

24 April 1458
[…]

The moment we had consumed that curious fruit — or seed; I could not tell — everything around us seemed to crumble away. The air grew thin, and the skies turned red, like blood. For a moment I thought the end of the world had come, and the Lord was there to judge us at once; I turned around, and I realised something had happened to the fortress: vines sprouted out of every hole, and I finally caught that terrible stench. My soldiers had fear painted into their eyes and minds, but I had a strange feeling that begged me to go inside.

Believe me, brothers, it was my greatest mistake. May the Lord forgive me, for I have condemned the lives of those brave men I had sworn to lead.

[…]
They had come out of the walls, at least so it seemed, like they were one with the castle, with the shadows. They had horrific rashes all over their flesh, even worse than the victims of the plague! Their hounds sank their teeth into our skin like we were their tasteful meals, and one of my men had his throat cut by their fangs: perhaps he had escaped a terrible fate. When they called their rabid dogs back to themselves, I knew all hope was lost.

Their arms were so thin, so weak, as they were, yet we could not oppose any force. What were we to do, either way? Outnumbered, in this lost fortress, cursed by the memory of battles against the Turks. Their eyes were as empty as their soul, if they had any at all. They dragged across the blood, shit, piss-stained floor. There were other things I dare not mention, for in my crudeness I still must retain a certain level of composure. They looked like dead men, but they had more vigour than us soldiers. We were shut off in the cages, where they had us spend most of our days.

[…]
The terrible condition of the cages were only worsened by the sounds that came from all across the hallways around us. Laughter, feasts occurring, insane jokes and, god-forbid, whatever impurity I dare not imagine. The sacrality of all that is life was being desecrated with each passing moment. My companions, I could see it, were losing their minds. They rambled on through the nights, tormented like me by terrible visions in their sleep.

Through the gaps in the walls I could see their faces. Deep in my heart I feared that they could access the confines of our room, without warning. Especially after we found Lev laying dead, missing a leg, and nobody had heard a single thing… I beg you, do not try to think what they had done to him.

[…]
It is true: God does not mingle in certain places out of sheer disgust, because I knew that place could never house the Almighty. I expected to wake up and find another one of my men dead, his face torn away, but I did not wake up in the morning, if we were still waking up in the morning. I woke up in the cold night, sweat dripping down my beard, my head pounding like the worst fever had caught me. They came with their hounds, with tails of rats and fangs dripping with drool and venom; my clouded vision and the dark confines of the castles made this journey into the unknown seem hopeless and long, but I think it only took a few minutes.

Soon after, I was blinded by a light, and I realised I was in the main square. There were tables and seats all around, like a feasting room. I could see them everywhere, all around me, waiting for me. Their plates empty, their cups filled with wine, or maybe blood. Some of them were lithe and cadaveric, but others were big, very big, with bloated bellies that turned them into sedentary vegetables dedicated only to eating as much as they could.

I heard a loud voice, a hiss, which commanded them to empty their vials, to celebrate my death, my flesh, their meal, and the joy of the feast. The skies above me were burning through the night, I could see no Heaven. They released me in the middle of the room, as their putrid eyes watched upon me: the biggest one, whom I heard them call “Ille Gluteus”, whose stature was enough to occupy the space of four or five carriages, raised his hand, and the hounds were released. A twisted ritual, that I understood had been the death of some of my men.

I held onto my cross, as I felt the air around me growing heavy, but I could not falter: I had to fight, for myself, for my soldiers, for my faith.

[…]

It pained my heart to condemn my soldiers to that terrible fate and run away on my own. But perhaps God was with me after all, because like great King David against Goliath, I cut my way through the inhuman ounces of fat, meat, and flesh.

I hope God can forgive me for my selfishness, but the desire to survive and see my loved ones again burnt too brightly. I know the others would have done the same, after all.

[…]

Addendum 769.2: On April 14th 2017, Containment Specialist Agent James Sanderson, during a scheduled search and destroy sweep of RPC-769-A instances, experienced the only documented encounter with RPC-769-B. He was found unconscious by his team and in need of psychological support.