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Platform 1 of RPC-557 from outside.
Registered Phenomena Code: 557
Object Class: Alpha-Yellow
Hazard Types: Extra-Dimensional, Immeasurable, Extreme Temperature
Containment Protocols: The P3 ramp of RPC-557 has been gated. 2 light-armed ASF operatives are to maintain this chokepoint during the day, posing as local security; use of force is authorized if necessary.
Update: Previous protocols nullified. The P3 ramp has been cemented off. Site-012 monitors the integrity of this wall by remote surveillance.
Description: RPC-557 is an underground multistory parking garage constructed in 19██ at ████ █████ ██████ Street in ███████, Illinois. Originally built with 2 platforms, at an unknown date the location became host to a spatial anomaly manifesting levels 3 and beyond. Tunneling outward from these depths has revealed only earth; further excavation was halted for risk of disruption.
RPC-557 has a dramatic temperature gradient surpassing that of expected geothermal heat, rising to around 45°C by platform 10 and exponentially onward. Platform 21, the lowest reached by remote measuring equipment, returned a reading of 524°C: a heat RPC-557's structure can apparently withstand, though concrete, asphalt, and sheet metal samples show no special resistance in a laboratory setting. As a result, the full extent of RPC-557 is uncertain.
Pipes on P4, captured during second exploration.
While not trafficked by civilians since prior to intervention, the additional platforms of RPC-557 are still sparsely populated by tarnished vehicles whose distribution has changed between expeditions. License plates are either missing or illegibly damaged, though the latters' designs suggest mostly local origins. External defacements; including smashed windows, scratched or dented exteriors, missing wheels, and corrosion; escalate as levels descend. Closer inspection reveals that none of these vehicles would be able to start due to missing engine components.
Litters such as paper waste and cigarettes are common. In addition, cuts of burnt biomatter are often found on the ground and atop wrecked vehicles and dumpsters. The tissue is human or closely related, according to lab analysis and a confined subject report. Though its origin remains unknown, some of this material was warmer than the ambient temperature on discovery.
Light fixtures begin to falter from platform 5, ending in complete darkness by P13. Devices left within RPC-557 will break rather quickly, with physical sabotage evident in the few recovered; objects otherwise tend to disappear entirely when unaccompanied.
Environmental noise permeating the walls of RPC-557 includes mechanical stirring, rhythmic thumping, flowing liquid, and, at the lower accessible levels, bubbling. Human-like vocalizations (grunts, yells, or cries) have been heard rarely, such as this excerpt taken from a since-deactivated live feed placed on platform 7.
Incident 557-01: On December 13th, 2012, the ASF watch spotted an unknown young adult male emerging from RPC-557 at the P3 ramp. He attempted to flee from the guards, starting a brief chase into the structure. The man was weighed down by a backpack he opted not to remove, which facilitated his capture and surrender on the 4th platform.
He was taken into custody at Site-012, and his backpack was confiscated with the following items:
- a cellular device
- a lighter
- a stick of deodorant
- multiple changes of clothing
- approx. 200 USD
- approx. 3.6 kg of RPC-557 biomatter
- a copy of Lord of the Flies, paperback
The subject was interrogated by an anonymous officer.
Can I get your name?
[Unresponsive for 7 seconds.] "Look it up. I told you guys last time."
Are you aware you were trespassing on private property?
"Uh-huh."
How long had you been on this property?
"Couple days."
[When pressed:] "Three."
What were you doing down there?
"Why do you want to know?"
[When pressed:] "I… I, uh, walked in. There was the security up there when I tried to leave, but they hadn't been there b-before, like, for months. I'm telling you, whatever crime you think I did, I had nothing to do with it."
But why did you want to go there?
"You-… why do you think?"
[When pressed:] "Alright, alright. Someone told me."
Who?
"I didn't catch his name. Guy at ███████ Bridge a few months back."
What did he tell you?
"He told me it was this place with shelter and heating — for free, and you never run into anybody there, not even the cops. But supposedly the whole city knows about it."
Why were you carrying meat with you?
"It's food. Oh, yeah, no, I don't know where it's from. Someone leaves it around. It's like, pork, I think. I assume they get it from the grocery store a few blocks from here. Some good Samaritan…"
[When pressed:] "If I knew, I wouldn't tell you. But no, I've never seen 'em. Can't blame them for hiding, what with you guys around."
Did you see anything else abnormal while you were there?
"Well, I've never been to the bottom. Not that I want to. The place is pretty big, I figure it was originally for something other than what it wound up under."
Anything else of note?
"The guy was right. I've never run into anyone there. Like, ever… it gets creepy. But I know other people are in there, 'cause I've heard 'em before."
You've heard other people? Could you tell what they were saying?
"No, no. I heard footsteps, sometimes, and one time, screaming."
Screaming?
"Yeah."
[When pressed:] "Listen. There are some crazy people in this city, druggies, but swear to God, I ain't one of them. But they ruin things for the rest of us."
POI-557 was deemed irrelevant to the case and released December 16th, all possessions returned.
Addendum 1:
[+] M-00557: RPC-557 duct exploration
Addendum 2: RPC-557's P3 entrance will be sealed next week in the interest of long-term containment. Engineering personnel are scheduled to erect a cement wall and install an additional camera at the location on January 10th, from 12–4 AM for privacy. The team will be accompanied by the established ASF watch on their final shift.
"12 AM, you shitting me? Only if we get music. Yes, we'll keep it low." —Engineer Knapp
Incident 557-02: 2 days following the closing of RPC-557, video monitors at Site-012 were alerted to the unexpected arrival of municipal police to the area. Plainclothes ACI agents were deployed to intercept the response and ascertain the situation, acting as concerned residents.
According to both policemen, a dispatcher received a civilian report of knocking and indiscernible yelling from the other side of the wall that morning. No such disruption was noted by either team on arrival. Agents successfully asserted to the officers that no space existed beyond the wall and suggested the bystander had merely been confused by an auditory hallucination.
Addendum 3: In June 2013, Site-012 maintenance staff produced a handwritten note that had been stashed beneath the mattress of Holding Unit ████ at an unknown earlier date, presumably within the previous 8 months. A digitized copy of this note has been attached to all potentially relevant case files.
I KNOW YOUR[sic] NOT CPD BUT WHO ARE YOU?
Well, who ever[sic] reads this…
The city is a mind.
It looks inside you for working parts,
down the drain if your[sic] useless
The pipes carry your blood, the wires carry your pulse
Just for the oppertune[sic] life of the few
I don't care, its[sic] just how it is
But you could always be next
to turn to smoke
no one will hear