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A photo of RPC-879 growing over a forgotten sign
Registered Phenomena Code: 879
Object Class: Omega-Yellow
Hazard Types: 
Aggression Hazard 
Transmutation Hazard
Additional Properties: 
Animated 
Ecological
Containment Protocols: As the existence of RPC-879 is so widespread, routine maintenance of civilized land is required. Every inhabited sector of Earth that is inhabited by RPC-879 must have at least one civilian-led landscaping company. Additional funding to ensure these companies remain open is allowed, though often unnecessary.
In areas where RPC-879 has become too difficult or impossible to control, civilians within the area are to be relocated closer to urban areas. Civilians are not to be forced from their homes unless at high risk of harm via RPC-879, in which case building seizure warrants may be issued. Temporary civilian housing must be provided to the displaced if needed.
Mass deforestation is to be allowed of specific civilian companies or even, in cases such as Project 879-1 "Amazon", commissioned in order to prevent RPC-879 from encroaching too close to large civilian settlements in an uncontrolled manner.
As of 12/13/2020, Operation 879-12 "Burning Horizons" is to be suspended from the list of active operations, with the complete dismantling of the operation pending further review.
Description: RPC-879 is a form of hostile behavior found in ██% of all flora on Earth. During a plant's lifetime, it will demonstrate particular hostility toward human life and man-made items. This manifests as a statistically significant propensity to attempt strangling, entangling, and/or consumption of such targets when sufficiently proximate.
The manner in which this is done reflects a degree of awareness of the target's qualities on behalf of the subject, as demonstrated by the targeting of vulnerable body parts and structural weak points during the process.
As most subjects do not exhibit direct mobility, this behavior is instead expressed via gradual growth: in practice, RPC-879 rarely presents a direct hazard to human life, instead threatening settlements and infrastructure over time.
Discovery: Initially hypothesized by Researcher Harlov in the early days of the Authority, it was discarded and deemed impossible. Even after the theory had been declined, Mister Harlov spent most of his free time looking into his claim to prove his hypothesis. However, he failed to confirm it before his untimely death in an unrelated incident.
After finding the file written by Mister Harlov, Miss Juniper Francis reformatted and restructured the hypothesis and requested permission to continue the research. It was approved on 4/27/1960, and the theory was proven. The phenomenon was classified as RPC-879 in 1966, with the first effort to fight back and contain RPC-879 being dubbed Project 879-1 "Amazon".
Incident Report: 879-RGP-1
| Anomalies Involved: |
879 |
Grass and tree roots in the vicinity became suddenly active and violent. |
| Incident Type: |
Oph |
A previously unknown phenomenon occurred, taking the lives of three civilians. |
| Incident Location: |
Ogda, Nevada |
A private residential home belonging to one Ellie █████. |
| Cause of Incident: |
Unknown |
As of writing, there is no known cause of this behavior other than the presence of multiple humans. |
| Status: |
Resolved |
After the initial incident there has been no further evidence of the phenomenon in the area. |
During a seemingly normal day of work, the employees of █████ & Brothers' Landscaping arrived at 55 West 3750 Street. They'd been hired for routine maintenance of some of the lawns within the trailer park, and their day had gone uneventfully until beginning work at this particular home.
During the event, now categorized as 879-RGP-1, the unkempt grass of the lawn grew rapidly and entangled several workers. Soon after, roots and branches from a nearby tree grew from the ground and strangled several of the men as well as the homeowner inside. The flora then attempted to drag the victims into the ground but were stopped by Ricardo █████ and another worker using a string trimmer and pole saw respectively.
Three workers, as well as Miss, █████ died of asphyxiation, and two workers survived with minor injuries. Ricardo █████ and the other surviving workers were amnesticized
There were no other witnesses, with the only recording coming from Ricardo █████'s cellphone. It was claimed to be accidental, as he did not know his phone was recording.
The cover story given is as follows: Due to a severe gas leak, three of his men had died of suffocation. However, due to his heroism and leadership, Ricardo and the other worker had been able to save the other two survivors.
Foreword: The following was recovered from Ricardo █████'s cellphone. It had been set to record unknowingly and captured audio of the entire event. Any dialogue shown has been translated from Spanish.
Recording Start: 12:46PM
Ricardo: Juiced up the ride last night. Runs so damn smooth, like it's on ice.
>There are loud sounds as the workers gather their tools, but the phone fails to pick up much of the spoken audio.
Ricardo: Ha! You couldn't pour oil with a funnel, what makes you think I'd even let you take a l-
>He is interrupted by a yelp as one of his workers trips. This is followed by laughter from Ricardo and the other workers. After some casual mockery, the workers get to work maintaining the property. Audio is polluted by the equipment for several minutes. It stops, allowing audio of surprised shouting in the background.
Ricardo: Woah what the hell-? The fuck is that?!
>Some of the screaming is cut off, choking noises are barely audible.
Ricardo: Get 'em out! Hurry! What the fuck is going on?!
>Noise pollution makes any further audio unusable, as Ricardo and an unaffected employee begin cutting two of the nearest workers free. Ricardo is using a string trimmer, and the worker is using a pole chainsaw.
Ricardo: Get 'em back! What the fuck is going on? Call the police!
>The rest of the audio was polluted by the string trimmer and pole chainsaw, as the two attempted to free the other workers. An Authority agent is dispatched and arrives on the scene soon after.
Recording End: 1:02PM
The incident was resolved quickly and efficiently by the dispatched agent. The survivors were systematically interviewed and amnesticized. There have since been several similar instances across the world with varying degrees of severity, with this event remaining as one of the more severe.
Proposal: Operation "Burning Horizons"
Operation "Burning Horizons" is the controlled burning of heavily forested areas in an attempt to control the density of highly active RPC-879 instances. Reports have confirmed that RPC-879 instances have been much more active and dangerous, beginning in 199█ after Incident 879-RGP-1. After an extensive study from the research team on North Brother Island in New York, it has been determined these active instances of 879 somehow cause nearby flora to develop the same properties. This evidence is further backed by the discovery of three more central entities located nearby instances of RPC-879-RGP, such as in Gunnison, Colorado, and Bottineau, North Dakota. If any begin to appear in heavily forested areas, we could potentially have an entire forest of violent plantlife.
If this were to happen it would be far too dangerous and cost deficient to send in an Authority-Trained logging group, let alone a civilian one. I propose a controlled burning of any affected areas, then cover it up as an accidental wildfire. I believe this to be both cost-effective and the safest and efficient manner to deal with this threat. For more information on highly active instances of RPC-879, please refer to Document-879-█, "███ █████ ███".
Status: Approved Suspended as of 12/13/2020
Director,
I am writing to you to inform you of the immense damage and loss of civilian life caused by the highly irresponsible and dangerous Operation "Burning Horizons". Because of it, half of California was lit on fire and is still smoldering today almost a year later.
It is my theory that an instance detailed in the initial proposal for "Burning Horizons" was present within the initial area targeted for burning. Due to the entity's situational awareness, it may have elected to spread the fire further to cause as much damage as possible. I've been able to confirm multiple more instances of these central entities as well, with more detail provided in my report.
Due to this, I propose we suspend the use of "Burning Horizons" to research this phenomenon more thoroughly. Maybe it isn't as widespread as it we thought in the '60s.
Doctor Aileen Flinnish, RPC-879 Research Team
5/██/202█
