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RPC-002. Note the characteristic damage beneath the lowest visible chamber.
Registered Phenomena Code: 002
Object Class: Alpha-Yellow
Hazard Types: Ballistic Hazard, Memory Alteration Hazard, Extreme Temperature Hazard, Toxic Hazard, Transmutation Hazard
Containment Protocols: RPC-002 is to be contained in a standard Alpha-class storage container. RPC-002 may be removed from its container for testing purposes with the approval of Level 3 Research staff. RPC-002 is not to be used outside of approved testing areas, and only on approved targets. Testing on living or organic targets may be conducted with the approval of the Director of Site-███. Due to recent unexpected test results, experimental use of RPC-002 is forbidden until further notice. For more information, see Incident Log RPC-002-F.
Description: RPC-002 is an 1873 Colt Single-Action Army Revolver which causes a variety of unpredictable physics-altering effects when loaded and fired. The object's 19.05 cm barrel, original nickel plating and walnut grips are characteristic of the first-generation "Cavalry" variant of the CSAA. RPC-002 displays minor anomalous properties when unloaded, namely a minor memory-alteration effect (see below) and a capacity for continuous self-repair. Any component of the anomaly which is marked, damaged, removed or altered in any way will be immediately replaced with a new component identical in composition to the one present on the object before it was modified or damaged. Any removed component will vanish simultaneously to the appearance of the "new" component. One chamber of RPC-002's cylinder is heavily abraded, showing damage consistent with a catastrophic misfire or casing rupture.
When loaded with any bullet capable of fitting within the revolver's chambers and fired, the resultant anomalous projectile, designated RPC-002-1, causes a variety of physical alterations in the material composition of the target struck. While RPC-002-1 is visually identical to a .44 Winchester bullet in flight, no physical projectile has ever been recovered from a target hit by the anomaly.
The effects of RPC-002-1 impact with a target are characterized by sudden alteration of the target's chemical structure, usually accompanied by a substantial release of energy in the form of heat. RPC-002-1's effects are more pronounced on chemically pure targets, and it is capable of causing the chemical conversion of structurally contiguous chemically pure objects massing up to 450kg.
The exact effects of different cylinders of RPC-002 are internally consistent. However, the difficulty in marking individual components is compounded by RPC-002-2, the object's cognito-hazardous effect. RPC-002-2 is characterized by the inability of any human being to consistently remember or observe the relative positions of individual chambers within the weapon's cylinder. Multiple personnel who observe the operation of RPC-002, even via digital transmission or recording, will invariably disagree on which chamber(s) have been fired and the exact configuration of the weapon when loaded. This effect is not consistent over time, and personnel who view recordings of the same test multiple times will demonstrate inconsistent and self-contradictory memories of the event with each repetition. While the position of the destroyed chamber of RPC-002's cylinder is theorized to remain constant, the effects of RPC-002-2 make this theory functionally non-demonstrable.
The following test numbers have been redacted for information security reasons, and replaced with identifying placeholders.
Test Number: RPC-002-A
Subject: CSD-4867, Asian male, 38.
Procedure: Agent Jameson is ordered to point and fire RPC-002 at CSD-4867 from a distance of 10m.
Results: CSD-4867's body cavity violently explodes. Thermal imaging reveals that, upon contact with RPC-002-1, all water within the subject's tissues instantly increased in temperature to 1670 °C, causing explosive rupturing of the major organs. Much of the subject's remains were immediately reduced to ash, which proved to be non-anomalous. Agent Jameson suffered minor pressure bruising and first-degree burns.
Notes: Spectral analysis reveals that, upon contact, much of the calcium within the subject's skeletal structure was converted to chemically pure sodium, which reacted upon contact with the water in the subject's tissues. However, even the combustion of sodium does not account for the extreme temperatures observed.
Notice from Head Researcher: Future tests will use strictly inorganic targets. CSDs should be employed to fire the object, to minimize the risk of injury to experienced personnel.
Test Number: RPC-002-B
Subject: One bar of SAE Type 416 steel alloy, 20kg.
Procedure: CSD-4869 instructed to fire RPC-002 at the target from a distance of 20m.
Results: Upon RPC-002-1 impact, the target is observed to suddenly separate into two coherent masses of chemically pure iron and carbon, which collide violently with opposite walls of the test chamber. A pile of powdery residue is left in the original position of the target, which chemical testing reveals to be quantities of chromium, manganese, nickel, potassium and sulfur consistent with the amounts present in the original alloy steel bar.
Notes: Why the iron and carbon were violently separated, while other components such as manganese (which was present at a higher percentage of the original target's mass than carbon) were not imparted with kinetic energy is unclear.
Test Number: RPC-002-C
Subject: Chord of English oak wood, 1kg.
Procedure: CSD-4881 instructed to fire RPC-002 at the target from a distance of 20m.
Results: Upon impact, monitoring equipment in the test chamber registers an abrupt drop in air pressure and temperature, accompanied by a sudden spike in neutron radiation. Observation apertures and windows froze over, and the chamber door froze shut. Upon re-entering the test chamber with equipment for handling the extremely low temperatures and high levels of radiation in the test chamber, personnel discovered that the target had been replaced with an approximately 10kg mass of plutonium-238. CSD-4881 was killed by the combination of intense radiation and low-temperature exposure.
Notes: It is believed, based on the limited spectrographic readings available, that RPC-002-1 converted the target into a substantially larger mass of some unstable synthetic element, possibly livermorium or flerovium. To "create" this mass, the anomaly drew energy and mass in from the atmosphere of the test chamber, resulting in the substantial temperature drop observed.
Notice from Site Director: RPC-002 is to be fired by remote operated equipment in all further testing.
Test Number: RPC-002-D
Subject: One sheet of nitrile rubber, 3kg.
Procedure: RPC-002 fired at the target via the use of a mechanical pulley system.
Results: RPC-002-1 produced a hole through the target without damaging the testing backstop. The sheet of rubber was observed to collapse into several dense crystalline fragments. Testing of the remains reveal them to be composed of a chemical compound structurally similar to yttrium barium copper oxide, save for the presence of several unidentifiable trace chemicals.
Notes: The new material created by RPC-002 appears to be a functional room-temperature superconductor. Materials science research to duplicate the substance is ongoing.
Test Number: RPC-002-E
Subject: 250ml of water contained in a standard borosilicate glass beaker.
Procedure: RPC-002's damaged chamber was loaded. The weapon was fired at the target via the use of a mechanical pulley system from a distance of 20m.
Results: RPC-002 failed to fire.
Notes: There appears to be no mechanical reason why RPC-002 failed to activate. While damage to the chamber makes the weapon naturally unsafe to use, it does not physically prevent a round from being chambered and fired.
Notice from Head Researcher: Some of the ASF personnel assigned to test security have had an unorthodox test suggestion. I'm allowing it.
Test Number: RPC-002-F
Subject: 250ml of water contained in a standard borosilicate glass beaker.
Procedure: All six of RPC-002's chambers were loaded. The cylinder of the weapon was then spun freely by a blindfolded researcher, who inserted the loaded weapon into the mechanical firing system by feel. All chamber observation devices that had previously pointed at the weapon during the process of firing were deactivated. The weapon was fired at the target via the use of a mechanical pulley system from a distance of 20m.
Results: See Incident Log RPC-002-F.
On 4/12/20██, 8:22 am, RPC-002 was test-fired using a "Russian roulette" technique formulated by local Research and Protection staff. At the time of firing, the exact orientation of the weapon's chambers was unknown, as was the state of the weapon since initial loading. The weapon's target was a standard borosilicate glass beaker containing 250ml of deionized water. At approximately 8:23 am, all contact was lost with Site-███, save for on-site seismographic equipment which indicated an intense site-wide vibration characteristic of a minor earthquake or substantial explosion. An automatic distress signal was sent out, signaling that one or more RPCs had breached containment. ASF recovery teams were immediately sent out to re-contain and neutralize any threats, anomalous or otherwise.
Upon arrival at the Site, response personnel noted that the building had undergone substantial structural damage, and was radiating intense heat. Personnel also noted a strong smell of gunpowder. All Site-███ personnel had been killed by impact injuries, and all anomalies on the Site had been destroyed by the building's collapse. RPC-002 was recovered intact, with all five of its undamaged chambers still loaded. The damaged chamber was empty.
Heavily damaged concrete slag extracted from the ruins of RPC-002's test chamber. The intense thermal effects generated by the anomaly were sufficient to reduce the reinforced structural members of the test chamber to a glassy, semifluid state.
Addendum 002-1: Based on a detailed mathematical analysis of the structural damage to Site-███, it can be concluded that the facility was destroyed by an anomalous effect comparable to heavy gunfire. This effect is believed to take the form of a wave, which propagated out of RPC-002's test chamber and into the Site's ventilation systems before expanding throughout the structure. The collision of this wave with any form of matter, a process tentatively dubbed RPC-002-3, is functionally similar to striking every 3 mm2 area of the target's surface with a single Winchester .44 round fired at point-blank range. In effect, the activation of RPC-002-1 during test RPC-002-F resulted in the entire site being struck by more than ██ x 108 rounds in the same instant. The resultant energy transfer was enough to kill all living things in the facility and cause substantial structural collapse.
Addendum 002-2: All testing of RPC-002 is suspended by order of the Global Directorate. The item has been transferred to Site-001.
