Following the containment attempt, on 1/8/1995 at 12:14 EST, RPC-776 manifested at Site-220. Security footage shows it emerging from one of the bathrooms in the east wing, fully clad in standard Authority researcher outfittings. At this point, it began to make its way to the cafeteria. Its memetic anomaly affected almost the entirety of the site, causing personnel to identify it as “Researcher King”. Following its meal at the cafeteria it made its way to the Site Director’s office, bypassed security measures unobstructed, whereupon it spoke to Site Director Hall who appeared not to have been affected by the anomaly’s memetic property.
The following is the transcript of the security footage taken from Director Hall’s office.
[BEGIN LOG]
Hall: Yes, it'll be-
The door opens with a loud creak. Hall drops his phone and turns his head towards the door.
RPC-776: Hey.
Hall: What the f-
The door closes. Director Hall stands up from his chair.
RPC-776: Hold it there, honey. You can’t chase after me. You should know that by now.
Hall: Are you-
RPC-776: Yes, I’m him. I know I've got a number, but please, I prefer King.
Hall: W-what are you here to do? This is, uh, the first time you’ve ever voluntarily made contact with the Authority. Are you here because of….yesterday's events?
RPC-776: Sure. Doubt they'll let you repeat that one.
RPC-776 chuckles.
RPC-776: But first, compliments to your chef. Not bad for cafeteria grub.
Hall: I will…relay that.
A scraping sound can be heard as RPC-776 pulls out a chair and sits down.
RPC-776: So, how’s it been?
Hall: How’s…what been?
RPC-776: Trying to contain me. Been a headache, no?
A pause.
Hall: No, hasn’t been easy. God knows how much we’ve spent on amnestics.
RPC-776 laughs.
RPC-776: Oh! How many times have you sent your pals over? A few hundred? Must be running them ragged. Wonder if you pay them enough for all that trouble.
Hall clears his throat.
Hall: Uh…Seven-seven-si-
RPC-776: Please, call me King.
Hall: Mr. King, then.
Hall rummages through his desk drawer.
Hall: Let's…cut to the point. Why are you here?
RPC-776: Need to ask for a favor. You see, that stunt you pulled yesterday really got me thinki-
Hall: Are you going to turn yourself in? I promise, yo-
RPC-776: No. Honey, you really think it’d be that easy? Listen, I have a request for you. I’ll do something for you, and in return, you do something for me. Or at least, hear me out. That sound alright?
A pause.
Hall: Sure. Yeah. Just, give me a moment to process this. You’ve evaded us for 13 years, and now you’re right here in front of me. Sure.
RPC-776: You wanna…ask me some questions, or something?
Hall: Sure. Questions. Uh…give me a moment…
Hall retrieves a notebook from beneath his desk.
Hall: Uh…hm. To begin with, Mr. King, why do you impersonate Elvis?
RPC-776: Impersonate? Really, I’m offended. It’s less that I impersonate him, more that I am him, per se. The boy from Tupelo - that’s me, in the flesh.
Hall: Could you please elaborate?
RPC-776: It's tough to explain…
RPC-776 places its hand on its chin.
RPC-776: Best way I can put it is like this. Every person leaves indentations in the world. Most people's footsteps are washed away and forgotten about, but a great man like Presley would leave a great imprint, no? I'm that - the hole where he used to be.
Hall writes in his notebook.
Hall: Alright then. What is… your origin? Where’d you come from?
RPC-776: ‘Fraid I don’t know myself. Found myself sitting on the toilet, three days after that man died.
Hall: And why do you continue to manifest around the world?
RPC-776: Because dying of a heart attack caused by an addiction to prescription barbiturates ain't befitting of a man like that. Can't leave the building just yet, y'know?
A pause.
RPC-776: Anything else?
Hall looks away.
Hall: Frankly, that’s…all I have. I don’t actually have questions prepared. I’m the Director, not a researcher. And more importantly…no one expected you to just waltz right in. You haven’t really given me much…time to prepare.
RPC-776: Great. Now, would you hear me out?
A pause.
Hall: Alright. I’ll listen.
RPC-776 takes a deep breath.
RPC-776: Please stop pursuing me.
A pause.
Hall: Mr. King, you…know we cannot do that.
RPC-776: I know, I know. Duty and all that. Something about normalcy. But please, just hear me out. It’s been the same for the past 13 years. Some aged fan sees who they believe to be the great star and reports me at a restaurant and as you try to get close, I disappear. Why not give your men an off day?
Hall: You understand how your manifestations disrupt norma-
RPC-776: Sure, it does. By a tiny, tiny bit. Hell, you’ve already managed to make it into a lie. A hoax. No one'll believe the middle-aged mother who thinks she saw me. I'm not even that mad about the slander, frankly. What’s the harm of just stopping? Whenever you pursue me, I disappear. You wasted how much money seeing that to its end? Them’s the rules, and that’s how it’ll be.
RPC-776 shakes its head.
RPC-776: And what’s the harm of it? Some fans see the King again. So what? When someone who used to love the King, who used to dance and jump and holler at the concerts and scream whenever he made his appearance, now aged and tired, sees me out of the corner of their eyes, I see that gleam in their eyes, Danny. A gleam that could only be made by a man who used to be as great as that man was.
RPC-776 leans forwards.
RPC-776: Can’t you let people dream?
A pause.
Hall: I really am afraid that I cannot authorize such actions.
RPC-776 sighs and turns away.
RPC-776: Danny, Honey. Please. All legends die eventually. No matter how much you try to fortify your castles with moats and battalions of shells and seaweed and driftwood or whatever, the high tide inevitably comes. That's all we are, Danny. Sand on beaches.
RPC-776 pauses.
RPC-776: Go ask about the other greats. Ask anyone nowadays if they know who Clark Gable was. Or D. B. Cooper, or Thespis or Bogart. Old friends, gone forever. Washed away to sea. The King is no different.
RPC-776 turns back towards Hall.
RPC-776: And when the sea comes for him, I’ll wash away, too.
RPC-776 extends its right hand.
RPC-776: Promise.
Recording equipment fails due to a malfunction caused by lack of maintenance.
[END LOG]
Following the conversation RPC-776 proceeded to leave Hall’s office and walk into the hallway. At this point, Hall ordered security to apprehend RPC-776, but such order had failed to go through due to a malfunction in the radio system, causing it instead to broadcast the entirety of the song “Heartbreak Hotel", performed by the late Elvis Aaron Presley. A search of the complex immediately afterwards revealed that RPC-776 was nowhere to be found, likely having de-manifested within an unobserved hallway.
