RPC Authority

#1 Article

#1 Joke Article

Top Ten Article

Active Contributor

Contest Winner

Contest Runner-Up

Challenge Winner

23

3.5 stars

23

{$translationblock}

Sketch believed to represent the titular character of RPC-310, recovered from the apartment of Takashi Hirata

Registered Phenomena Code: 310

Object Class: Alpha-Purple

Hazard Types: Geological Hazard, Transmutation Hazard, Immeasurable Hazard, Emotional Hazard, Sensory Hazard

Containment Protocols: All pages of RPC-310 are stored in a secure document locker on Site-313. Digitized versions of RPC-310 instances are archived on Authority servers at Site-313. Hard copies are available from the Site's reference library.

As RPC-310 is a historical archival document, any handling of it must abide by the Department of Historical and Pseudohistorical Studies Archival Collections Management Policy.

Description: RPC-310 is the screenplay for an unreleased 1955 Japanese kaiju¹ film, titled GARPON: RULER OF BEASTS.² When read in its original format, RPC-310 generates a wide range of minor and major anomalous effects, depending on which portions of the text are being read.

RPC-310 is composed of 87 pages of non-anomalous typewriter paper. All writing is done in pen, using a variety of mundane ink types.³ The actual content of the screenplay is non-anomalous in nature; photographs, photocopies or even accurate reproductions of the document display no anomalous properties.

The act of reading any line of RPC-310 produces a series of anomalous effects within a 20km radius of the reader. For any of these effects to trigger, the reader must be physically present in the same room as RPC-310, though the degree of proximity required remains unclear.⁴ For further details of RPC-310 anomalies, see Addendum 2 below.

Painting of the titular character of RPC-310, believed to be authored by Takashi Hirata. Date of production relative to sketch above is unclear.

Addendum 1: RPC-310 Background: RPC-310 was written by Takashi Hirata, a file clerk for the Toho film studios, between the early spring of 1954 and the late fall of 1955. The exact date of production remains unclear, as Hirata kept few notes and most of his records were destroyed in the initial discovery of RPC-310's anomalous properties. It is also unclear if RPC-310 was started before the production of the 1954 film Godzilla, also by Toho Studios, to which it bears substantial thematic and storyline similarities.⁵ Hirata had little experience writing screenplays, and his attempted submissions of scripts were repeatedly turned down by his supervisors at Toho.

Not long after the release of Godzilla in early November, Hirata left Toho, severed most of his family and social ties, and it is believed that he began obsessively editing and re-editing the screenplay for GARPON. He committed suicide by hanging in his apartment in Tokyo in early December of 1955. His body, and RPC-310, were not discovered by neighbours until several weeks later. During the subsequent removal of his body, several members of local law enforcement discovered the completed RPC-310 manuscript and read several portions of it. This triggered a variety of anomalous effects that resulted in their deaths, several million Yen in property damage, and the destruction of most of the contents of Hirata's apartment. RPC-310 was recovered during coverup operations⁶ by local Authority assets, following interviews with surviving law enforcement personnel who noted that the anomalous events had only occurred when the script was read.

Document: RPC-310 Screenplay Summary: The following is a brief summary of the storyline and premise of RPC-310/GARPON. The contents of the screenplay have been generally acknowledged as somewhat poorly written, with several major plot holes, inconsistent characterization, and, surprisingly for a film written by a Tokyo native, a gross disregard for the geography of the Tokyo Bay area.⁷

Dr. Serikawa, a nuclear physicist working for the U.S. Army, prepares the test-firing of a superweapon he has invented called the Electron Inverter on a remote, uninhabited Pacific island. A native guide warns him that that island is cursed, said to be the home of the Gojek, an evil monster which fell from the sky long ago. Driven by a desire for fame and prestige, and heavily encouraged by the generals who pay him, Serikawa orders the test to go ahead anyway. The Electron Inverter fires, destroying much of the island and awakening a gigantic insect, presumably the Gojek, which sinks most of the American fleet. Serikawa, accompanied by a journalist named Tenma, manages to flee the island in a lifeboat, and are picked up by the Japanese coast guard weeks later. Serikawa is convinced that the Gojek must be destroyed, and vows to build a larger, more powerful Electron Inverter to do so. Tenma is unconvinced by Serikawa's plans, but soon becomes involved in investigating a series of strange earthquakes and cave-ins in central Japan. In a remote mountain village, he meets Ai, a disabled orphan girl with seemingly supernatural powers who warns him that Serikawa's awakening of the Gojek has "disturbed the balance of the world."

Meanwhile, the Gojek makes landfall not far from Tokyo, annihilating the armies sent to stop it. In the hills near where Tenma is staying, a second monster awakens, which Ai identifies as the Garpon, an ancient half-bird half-tiger "Ruler of Beasts" which maintains the balance of the world. Caught between two giant monsters, the Japanese resistance crumbles, and all resources are diverted towards Serikawa's massive Super Electron Inverter. Tenma and Ai follow the Garpon towards Tokyo, and he notices that despite its fearsome appearance and destructive nature the monster does not deliberately harm humans.

The Garpon and the Gojek clash in central Tokyo, destroying much of the city, and Serikawa succeeds in using his Super Electron Inverter to harm Garpon, hoping to turn the weapon on the Gojek next. Ai and Tenma succeed in convincing him that it is not the Garpon or the Gojek that are responsible for this destruction, but him, for upsetting the balance of nature with his weapon. Shaken, Tenma overloads the Super Electron Inverter, using it to immobilize the Gojek but sacrificing his life in the process. Tenma helps Ai commandeer a military radio, and she puts out a call to all of Japan, telling them that only Garpon can defeat the Gojek and restore balance. The prayers of all of Japan heal Garpon, which defeats the Gojek before retreating into a cave it digs beneath Mount Fuji. As Tenma surveys the ruins of Tokyo, Ai tells him that Japan will rebuild, and that Garpon will always be there to restore balance to the world.

The entire document shows evidence of heavy editing, with numerous passages crossed out and altered. However, nearly all alterations are inconsequential in nature, modifying single words without changing the overall meaning of the text. An additional note is present on the last page, in handwriting that is considerably rougher than the rest of the text.

Why don't they understand? Garpon is real! Don't they see?

Addendum 2: Sample RPC-310 Effects: RPC-310 demonstrates different anomalous effects for each line or lines of the screenplay read, with most being so minor or situationally-specific as to be undetectable. The following represents some of the more notable effects.