Registered Phenomena Code: 099
Object Class: Beta-Orange
| Hazard Types:Additional Properties: |
 Aggression |
 Ballistic |
 Climatological |
 Geological |
 Grouped |
 Invisibility |
 Psychotronic |
 Sapient |
 Sentient |
 Transmutation |
 Bio-Hazard |
 Contact |
 Corrosive |
 Electromagnetic Force |
 Explosive |
 Extreme Temperature |
 Radiation |
 Toxic |
 Destabilization |
 Extra-Dimensional |
 Gravitational |
 Teleportation |
 Temporal |
 Auditory |
 Emotional |
 Ideological |
 Info-Hazard |
 Memory Alteration |
 Mind-Control |
 Mind-Regression |
 Sensory |
 Visual |
 Animated |
 Aquatic |
 Ecological |
 Extra-Terrestrial |
 Immeasurable |
 Incorporeal |
 Mechanical |
 Microscopic |
 Organic |
 Regenerative |
 Titanic |
 Tychokinetic |
 Replicating |
 Newtonian |
 Ontological |
 Divine |
 Hallucinogen |
 High Velocity |
 Proto-Mechanical |
 Proto-Newtonian |
 Proto-Sapient |
Containment Protocols:
Fig.1: Image of Haworth Crater, transmitted by the 1969 expedition from the slope of Malapert Massif. The unusual fogging of the image is believed to be a result of RPC-099.
RPC-099 is currently considered self-contained as a remote, localized zone of exclusion. Primary containment of the anomaly entails regular monitoring and observation by the personnel of Site-099, Site-019, and observation by any active interplanetary AEDF vessel in orbit over the Lunar south pole. All suspected unusual accidents, non-probabilistic events, or changes in local reality coherency are to be recorded by containment personnel and up-channeled to Dir. Erbach.
Site-099 is to maintain an accelerated personnel rotation schedule, three weeks one week on-site per rotation, to account for the minor negative health effects believed to be caused by RPC-099. These effects are consistent with other reports of long-term exposure to low coherency reality. However and most notably, post-incident 099-08, ~19% of all site personnel stationed at Site-099 have exhibited increased paranoid delusions categorized by a loss of large tracts of time, obsessive-compulsive repetition of seemingly random words or phrases, and self-mutilation of the skin due to psychogenic itch or pruritus.
Description and Discovery:
RPC-099 is the designation for a previously undocumented series of non-specified extra-ordinary effects present in and around Haworth Crater on the Lunar South Pole. RPC-099 is characterized by a slight decrease in local coherency levels accompanied by the unusually-frequent occurrence of highly improbable events or coincidences. Due to the location of the anomaly, these events often result in near-fatal incidents or accidents.
When the RPC-099 area of effect was originally occupied by the Fort Providence moonbase in 1949, the presence of an anomaly was not detected; the site was selected based on substantial local ice water reserves, and the utility of the nearby Malapert Massif as an observation post. At the time, the Authority had dedicated substantial resource efforts to explore and chart the dark side of the Moon. Fort Providence's strategic position on the Lunar south pole, and local resource access, made it a natural foothold from which exploratory missions of the lunar surface could be launched.
Fort Providence was plagued by continual mechanical issues and personnel injuries, now theorized to have been caused by RPC-099, and was subsequently destroyed in 1959. The exact nature of the anomalous events or entities that destroyed Fort Providence remains unclear.
A subsequent investigation of the RPC-099 area by a joint team of AEDF personnel and private contractors was carried out in 1969. During their expedition, no evidence of a destroyed facility was discovered. Regular reports to Site-019 from the expedition became increasingly sporadic and incomprehensible until the second week of the mission when all contact ceased. [See Fig.2]
Fig.2: The last survey map sent by the expedition team of 1969.
The bodies of the twelve expedition members were never recovered; based on recovered maps, retrieval teams located several of their supply caches in the area but could not discern the location of the expedition's final encampment. Efforts to minimize Authority interference in the ongoing Apollo missions made further attempts to determine the fate of the expedition unfeasible. The location of RPC-099 was left untouched until the establishment of the current Site-099, in 2013.
Following the construction of the present Site-099 nearby the old Fort Providence area as part of a re-consolidation of Lunar infrastructure in support of Site-019, resource extraction efforts from subterranean water reserves were renewed. Investigations into the source of the anomalous malfunctioning of equipment were now possible due to subsequent developments in new technology. These anomalies were now determined to be the result of lower ACS levels in the area, consequently leading to the designation of RPC-099 in 2012.
Though low-coherency operational precautions were taken and further grievances were dismissed by Site-019, discontent continued to mount among high-level Research personnel on Site-099, including newly-assigned Doctors Merodak and Sylvius. The two made several requests to explore the anomaly in-depth, and, in late 2020, used their personal contacts to have small quantities of Videric drug transshipped from Site-074 without formal permission. Their research requests were denied, due to both ethical concerns based on their aggressive acquisition of supplies, and uncertainties as to the as-yet-unknown side-effects of extensive Videric neurotransmitter use in low-ACS environments. Both doctors were transferred off of Site-099 following the discovery of their illicit operations and remain on probation as of 6/2/21.
The exact fate of the original Fort Providence ruins and 1969 exploration team remains unknown, despite several subsequent investigations by RSS and ASF personnel. In 2014, the case was shut again following a dearth of leads and due to the considerable costs associated with more involved containment of the anomaly.
The following is a semi-comprehensive list of recent probabilistic incidents believed to be caused by RPC-099, recorded from 2013 onward.
Incident: RPC-099-01
Date: 13/07/2013
Casualties/Deaths: 0/0
Further Notes: During the laying of Site-099's foundations, U&IIB personnel reported a highly-localized moonquake, accompanied by "slithering" or "scraping" sounds. The resultant vibrations cause no injuries but resulted in damage to much of the surveying equipment employed by the construction team, delaying completion of the Site by 3 weeks while replacement parts are transported in.
Incident: RPC-099-02
Date: 15/07/2013
Casualties/Deaths: 1/0
Further Notes: A U&IIB surveyor charting the ice tunnels within Haworth Crater becomes physically wedged in a gap in the ice that had previously been large enough to accommodate the rest of the survey team; freeing her necessitates removing one leg of her spacesuit, causing severe frostbite and exposure injuries.
Incident: RPC-099-03
Date: 10/9/2013-14/9/2013
Casualties/Deaths: 0/0
Further Notes: The Site-099 primary power transmission linkage to Site-019 fails unexpectedly, and instability within the on-site emergency grid causes delays with repairs. Investigations revealed that the site's primary, secondary and tertiary power management computers had simultaneously suffered catastrophic software errors due to micro-scale coherency fluctuations causing errors in their memory.
Incident: RPC-099-04
Date: 26/10/2013
Casualties/Deaths: 2/0
Further Notes: On-site water mining equipment activates spontaneously due to a believed electrical short, causing flooding in the lowest level of Site-099. Diagnostic reports of the affected equipment have revealed no obvious cause for the short, but the internal memory of all affected machinery is found to contain junk data and text files containing several hundred repetitions of the text string "MERRU".
Incident: RPC-099-05
Date: 5/5/2014
Casualties/Deaths: 0/0
Further Notes: All five of Site-099's lunar concrete printers suffer unrelated failures midway through the construction of an expanded Maintenance habitation block. Due to a lack of funds and the unavailability of Lunar surface-to-surface transport, Presidium representatives on Site-019 opt to discontinue the project. Maintenance Union personnel, led by Site engineer Mark Lentz, and with the tacit support of Site ASF, go on strike.
Concessions were granted by the Presidium on 24/5/2014. New concrete printers were installed the following month to ensure proper completion of site living quarters, and work schedules were relaxed for Site-099's ASF and RSS personnel.
Incident: RPC-099-06
Date: 25/12/2015
Casualties/Deaths: 0/0
Further Notes: Due to an unknown error, special pre-packaged Christmas dinner kits destined for Site-099 are found to be contaminated with Gordius robustus eggs. All Site-099 personnel immediately begin to report ill-effects associated with parasitic infestations.
However, the rate at which symptoms are noted rapidly exceeds the gestation and growth cycles for Gordius robustus. Further inquiry into the incident led investigators to find only a single sample of Gordius robustus on-site. Dr. Sylvius classes the event as a mass paranoid delusion.
Incident: RPC-099-07
Date: 4/3/2016
Casualties/Deaths: 13/7
Further Notes: A single Aedes albopictus is transported to Site-099 on a supply vessel. The sole acting member of the medical staff at the time is allergic to mosquito bites.
While the on-site doctor is being treated for a severe allergic reaction by ASF personnel, a localized moonquake causes a major collapse in one of the Site's mining shafts. An emergency medical team dispatched from Site-019 is delayed by an equipment failure on their transport. During the intervening 6 hours of delay, 12 mining personnel are injured, of whom 7 later die from their wounds due to lack of adequate medical assistance.
Incident: RPC-099-08
Date: 19/7/2016
Casualties/Deaths: 5/2
Further Notes: The mine collapse mentioned in Incident RPC-099-07 exposed several previously-unexplored ice tunnels. Miners charting the area report a strange crust or residue on tunnel surfaces, accompanied by shifting patterns of light faintly visible through the ice. Neither this residue nor the lights were detectable on suit cameras or recording equipment. Two miners operating drilling equipment refuse to continue work; subsequent debrief by the Site psychologist and medical personnel reveals that both are showing signs of intense paranoia and brain chemistry changes inconsistent with exposure to low-ACS space. Both workers subsequently attack Site medical staff and are killed in the resulting struggle.
Dr. Sylvius requests the construction of a permanent barrier over the hazardous zone, both to minimize the risk of further exposure, and to provide a controlled environment in which this element of the RPC-099 anomaly could be studied.
Permission granted per Dir. Erbach's dictation.
Incident: RPC-099-09
Date: 27/7/2016
Casualties/Deaths: 3/0
Further Notes: One week after the events of Incident RPC-099-08, the oxygen supply system in Administrative and Office Level suffers a catastrophic failure resulting in several members of the Research staff suffering minor to severe hypoxia. Dr. Sylvius's office additionally suffers a minor power failure resulting in her office door becoming partially sealed. Both the power supply unit and oxygen systems were later found to have been tampered with.
Dr. Sylvius has requested an additional inquiry into the incident and that a supplementary RSS detachment be stationed on-site.
Request denied per Dr. Merodak's request.
Incident: RPC-099-10
Date: 12/3/2017
Casualties/Deaths: 7/0
Further Notes: A Soshi fleet carrier stationed in high Mars orbit conducts routine weapon tests, but a rounding error in targeting calculations causes a diffuse high-energy particle beam to obliquely strike Malapert Massif, triggering a minor landslide which deals considerable cosmetic damage to Site-099's surface infrastructure and injures several workers.
Incident: RPC-099-11
Date: 30/1/2018
Casualties/Deaths: 10/4
Further Notes: A mutant strain of multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhi causes a major outbreak among Site-099 administrative staff, leading to the medical evacuation and subsequent deaths of four Site employees.
Incident: RPC-099-12
Date: 14/8/2018
Casualties/Deaths: 23/0
Further Notes: A severe localized moonquake causes major structural damage to the entirety of Site-099, collapses several mining tunnels, and reopens the area sealed following Incident RPC-099-08. During debriefing, no fewer than 14 different Site personnel recall uttering the word (or some variation on the word) "crawl" immediately before the start of the quake.
Incident: RPC-099-13
Date: 03/02/2021
Casualties/Deaths: 0/1
Further Notes: The accidental discharge of a mining laser opens a passage into the sealed area of the Site-099 tunnels. All 8 personnel present report witnessing a large object or objects receding rapidly away at the end of the resultant tunnel, and an inexplicable "ripping" or "tearing" sound.
Attempts at resealing the passage end in failure due to a sudden increase in coherency fluctuations. Personnel stationed in the lower levels of Site-099 report an inexplicable compulsion to enter the tunnels, and staff rotations have been made more frequent as a result. Containment protocols have been updated to reflect these findings.
Junior Systems Engineer Dirwang Chatraparthi is discovered to have bludgeoned a fellow member of Site maintenance staff to death. Before he can be apprehended, he flees into the tunnel networks. Local surveillance feeds capture him repeatedly reciting or chanting variations on the phrase "god-shaped hole." A Site-wide investigation has been launched.
Dr. Merodak and Dr. Sylvius have been pulled from probation. Their former research project will resume within the month.
In the light of the Budget Cuts Project and the recent discovery in the Site-099 tunnels, the 1969 Expedition has been reopened.
If funding is indeed to be appropriated from my colleague and our sector specifically, as GD-ARCH has so eloquently hinted, the situation at Site-099 cannot be swept under the rug any longer. We need the full support of Site-019 to conduct a detailed investigation into, and exploration of, the anomaly occupying the tunnels beneath Haworth Crater. We need to remove the source of this drawn-out series of catastrophes before we can no longer afford to.
Godspeed.
Incident: RPC-099-14
Date: ██/██/████
Casualties/Deaths: ██/██
Further Notes: █ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████. ███ ██████ ██ █ █████████ ████ ██. █ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ███████.
█ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ █████.
»Attention!«
As a consequence of Incident RPC-099-14's disastrous aftermath, this file has been reclassified as RPC-099-ARC. Reclassification specifications and further information on the events that led into the incident have been provided per the current RPC-099 document: pending Level 3/AEDF only clearance.
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