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Registered Phenomena Code: 815
Object Class: Gamma-Orange
| Hazard Types:Additional Properties: |  Sentient |
 Extreme Temperature |
 Memory Alteration |
 Aquatic |
Containment Protocols:
Civilian cargo ships, cruise ships, and other long-voyage vessels are to employ a personnel pairing protocol where two individuals accompany each other between the hours of 7 p.m. and 4 a.m. when on an open deck. This is to be done under the guise of preventive procedures in case an individual falls overboard. Navigating officers and captains have been instructed to closely oversee the movement and behaviour of individuals aboard under the same safety guidelines, with reports being made of those displaying abnormal behaviour; said behaviour includes: Irritability, anxiety, absenteeism1, isolation and any drastic character changes especially from individuals that were more outgoing and social.
Other long-voyage vessels with a crew size below six are under strict orders to avoid traveling far from shore and must have onboard radio communications in accordance with marine safety regulations.
Vessels encountering sudden drops in temperature to near or below freezing are instructed to keep crews within a ship's bow and monitor the water ahead for stray icebergs or debris. If crew members report a large iceberg measuring between 120 meters to 155 meters heading towards the stern, it should be reported and announced to prevent other crew members from observing it. Further instructions should emphasize focusing on the front of the vessel, as there is no danger of collision with an object located at the stern.
Any individuals or groups with a long nautical history—whether through career or hobby—who suddenly become reclusive and develop thalassophobia2 are to be investigated if their last voyage ended with the deliberate sinking of a vessel. If confirmed, or if suspicions of an RPC-815 incident are high, the individual and their associated crew are to be reported and blacklisted from nautical careers or any further long voyages at sea, in order to prevent another RPC-815 incident.
Description:
RPC-815 is a phenomenon at risk of manifestation during extended watercraft voyages across the abyssal and hadal zones of the Pacific Ocean3, between the hours of sunset and sunrise. All documented manifestations have occurred exclusively with steel-hulled vessels. No interactions have been recorded involving marine fauna, ice floes, or non-metallic vessels.
RPC-815 may manifest when an individual with an extensive nautical history—typically exceeding seven years—is alone on an open deck for a prolonged period. The onset of RPC-815 is marked by increased wind speeds, accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature and snowfall. These conditions will intensify to unnatural levels over approximately 20 minutes before RPC-815 fully manifests.
If, during this 20-minute window, the individual enters the vessel’s cabin or another person steps onto the open deck, the manifestation of RPC-815 will cease, and all anomalous conditions will gradually return to normal. If not interrupted, RPC-815 will begin to take form, gradually rising from the sea at a distance behind the vessel’s stern.
When fully manifested, RPC-815 appears as an abnormally large iceberg—measuring between roughly 150 to 180 meters—with a faint glow and a spherical shape at its core. Witnesses report that the iceberg appears unnaturally thin for its height. RPC-815 will then begin to follow the ship, maintaining a distance of approximately 50 meters. In this state, it is at its most docile. If left undisturbed, RPC-815 will continue to follow the vessel until it reaches shallower waters or until sunrise, at which point it rapidly melts.
The following actions are known to provoke the anomaly's aggression:
- Shining direct light on or toward the anomaly.
- Use of the ship’s horn or generation of other loud noises exceeding 190 decibels.
- Physically attacking RPC-815.
- Prolonged visual contact with RPC-815 or multiple individuals observing RPC-815 simultaneously.
- Disposing of large quantities of cargo, waste, or onboard objects into the sea.
- Releasing large volumes of smoke, whether from coal-powered engines or onboard fires.
When sufficiently provoked, all sapient individuals within a radius of 75 meters perceive that RPC-815 is enraged. If the source of RPC-815’s agitation is addressed, it will return to a docile state. However, if no action is taken—or further provocations occur—RPC-815 will enter a hostile state, marked by a rapid and severe temperature drop to sub-freezing levels, increasing snowfall that will blanket around RPC-815’s established 75 meter radius. This measure is theorised to prevent RPC-815 from de-manifesting at sunrise, though no reports of hostile RPC-815 events have happened during pre-dawn hours.
This temperature drop will continue until a large tabular ice mass forms around and beneath the vessel that will significantly slow, or completely immobilise, the ship. At this point, the vessel should be considered lost, and all individuals onboard are considered afflicted by RPC-815. Large ice formations will begin to materialize at a distance from the ship, forming into icebergs that repeatedly ram the vessel. It is only these icebergs that physically attack with no records of RPC-815 ever colliding with a vessel. These impacts continue until the icebergs collapse or the vessel sustains significant hull damage. Once sufficient damage has been inflicted, RPC-815 will de-manifest, resulting in the sinking of the affected vessel.
Upon full de-manifestation, all witnesses—whether crew members or external observers—will develop false memories of the event, attributing the attack to a rogue crew member or a hijacker usurping the ship and deliberately colliding it into a foreign object. When questioned and asked to describe said object witnesses will state they either did not observe the object clearly enough to detail it or never observed the object at any point. Despite being unable to describe this element each witness will recount the event with consistent, precise detail—even in cases where the witnesses have never interacted.
Individuals afflicted by RPC-815 following a vessel's sinking develop severe thalassophobia, a deep distrust of others, and tend toward isolation and reclusion. This behaviour was initially attributed to non-anomalous PTSD, until records showed that individuals who disembarked prior to the enraged state preceding an RPC-815 attack—still in proximity to observe the event but not the full de-manifestation—did not develop false memories or experience the extreme thalassophobia observed in afflicted survivors.
If afflicted individuals spend more than three days aboard any vessel at sea, another RPC-815 event will manifest—regardless of the time of day. RPC-815 will immediately enter a hostile state, freezing the surrounding waters without warning and attempting to sink the vessel. All other individuals onboard will become afflicted by RPC-815 following the incident.
Addendum: History
Hexton was an English iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1876 that transported wool and grain from Australia to the US before she was ultimately lost sometime in August, 1883.
A record belonging to Hexton's boatswain4 was recovered in 1943; the majority of written content is illegible due to substantial water-related degradation but faded sketches drawn in charcoal within the record appear to depict the events of a hostile RPC-815 manifestation. It is the first known recorded instance of a RPC-815 event.