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One of the buildings of RPC-512.
Registered Phenomena Code: 512
Object Class: Beta-White [Neutralized]
Hazard Types: Sentient, Animated, Organic, Regenerative, Grouped
Containment Protocols: RPC-512's perimeter is to be enclosed by 2m tall chainlink fencing under the guise of an active archeological excavation. Security teams are to routinely guard the area and inspect its boundaries for any potential tunneling by looters. A small OL-Site facility has been built in proximity to RPC-512 to house personnel, resources, and archeological equipment. Trespassers to the site are to be detained and transported to the OL-Site for interrogation. The ruins of RPC-512 are to be maintained and inspected annually.
Objects and any other materials produced by RPC-512 are to be archived inside the OL-Site. RPC-512-1 material is to be transported to the Cold Storage Wing at Site-██ for future inspection. RPC-512-2 is to be deposited inside the OL-Site in a separate L.O. storage locker.
Description: RPC-512 was a sedentary culture that occupied a 3300m2 area along the ████ River in Utah, between 1400-1300 BC. Though superficially reminiscent of neighboring Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan sites, RPC-512 possesses architectural and artistic motifs which predate both cultures by 300 years. RPC-512's infrastructure spanned 4 small stone-built hamlets, encompassing 20 residential buildings, 12 holding pens, 10 mills, 5 abattoirs, 3 fishing docks, and a single 19m x 30m tumulus interconnected with all settlements. DNA sequenced from the graves of RPC-512 populations yield negligible levels of admixture with bordering contemporary populations. Grave sites among all settlements possess little to no foreign goods. This has led Authority archeologists to believe RPC-512 was a deeply isolated community.
Material records suggest RPC-512 was an unusually stratified society compared to proximate cultures of its period, sharing a single ruler-priest between all 4 villages, who resided within and whose belongings were entombed exclusively inside the barrow.
Various pieces of regalia belonging to the ruling caste can be found inside individual stone tombs, though all graves excavated thus far reveal no visible human remains. Clothing retrieved from the burials displays extreme signs of wear and damage, with substantial sections missing entirely. Most deformations begin from the inside, pushing outwards. The attire bears possible signs of ritualized cleaning before entombment.
Radiocarbon tests performed on biological detritus located inside the barrow suggest it is substantially older than RPC-512, though due to man-made damage caused during later periods of RPC-512, it is not possible to determine an exact time span.
The tumulus faces a natural pit, roughly 2m x 5m in size, containing an amalgamation of mammal and plant tissue fused at the molecular level (labeled RPC-512-1). During its lifetime, RPC-512-1 weighed ~19.6 kL, and occupied half of the cavity. Both animal and plant matter are derived from a variety of species local to RPC-512's region.
RPC-512-1's interior consists of a soft, semi-liquid nucleus with no discernible features. The external layer is defined by the appearance of structured, albeit still fused, organ systems. This includes, among other structures: Bones, skin, fur, veins, stems, bark, and foliage. Periodically, RPC-512-1 would produce independent organisms from its mass. The mechanics of this process remains unknown. After an organism, hereby designated an instance of RPC-512-A, had fully developed, RPC-512-1 would regenerate the expended mass. Measurements of middens within RPC-512 indicate that approximately 2████ were produced by RPC-512-1 during its life.
RPC-512-A generally consist of one herbivore (usually Odocoileus hemionus1) and a Rubus parviflorus2 shrub. RPC-512-A are invariably malformed due to their production by RPC-512-1, exhibiting supernumerary limbs at varying levels of development. Most organs found in RPC-512-A are deviated. Bodies of smaller organisms are fused randomly throughout the body, occasionally forming conjoined lifeforms. Vegetal matter is connected to the skeletal tissue via a bulbous root formation, attaching itself to the circulatory system and exchanging nutrients between the mammalian and vegetable body. Despite nourishing exclusively on animal-derived nutrients, the wood and fruit of RPC-512-A were identical to their nonanomalous counterparts.
Micro-fractures along RPC-512-A extremities indicate they inherited the regenerative abilities of RPC-512-1 to a limited degree, capable of mending and reversing cuts and amputations which its original species could not. Osteological analysis of RPC-512-A denotes specimens had an extraordinarily low life expectancy, with ~51% of RPC-512-A instances dying before the age of 3 due to the inborn disfigurement of their organs. Despite this, RPC-512 subsisted almost exclusively from RPC-512-A during its existence, owing to the previously mentioned self-replicating capabilities of both RPC-512-1 and its produce.
Due to the absence of notable lacerations or scratches produced by RPC-512-A in the bodies of RPC-512 inhabitants, it is theorized RPC-512-A were relatively passive. Research personnel has yet to determine if said passivity is due to either a psychological quirk of RPC-512-A or an inability for self-defense as a result of its malformed anatomy.
Common artistic depictions among pottery and murals of RPC-512 feature a singular, large humanoid figure (most likely a chief or figurehead) encompassed by an outward spiral of RPC-512-A specimens, flanked by a line of smaller figures. It is hypothesized RPC-512's ruling caste had some form of control over RPC-512-1.
RPC-512 experienced a sudden decline circa 1480 BC, primarily due to the expiration of RPC-512-1. The cause and time of death are currently unknown, although it appeared to be considerably sudden. It is estimated RPC-512-1 died in the course of 1 year, however, closer inspection of its dead cells show it could have occurred in a single day.
The lack of RPC-512-A supply provoked a severe crisis among RPC-512. Extensive damage was inflicted on infrastructure among all 4 hamlets, theorized to have been caused by intraethnic violence, though the discovery of foreign weaponry and ritual captive sacrifice reminiscent of contemporary cultures suggest plundering by outside groups also occurred. Shortly thereafter, all RPC-512 settlements were completely abandoned. Local Paiute groups adjacent to RPC-512 ruins have not interacted with the site in any form, believing it to be haunted and a portent of bad luck.
Addendum 512-1: During excavations inside the pit that houses RPC-512-1, an array of tattered clothing was extracted near its core, identical in design and damage patterns to the regalia discovered from the mound.
Despite heavy tampering by RPC-512-1 material, trace amounts of Homo Sapiens matter were detected in the apparel. The Y-DNA samples from all regalia (including the one found inside RPC-512-1) belonging to RPC-512 yield haplogroups related to prehistoric populations neighboring RPC-512, but were not local to the culture itself.
Among the items unearthed in the pit, archeologists discovered a necklace bearing a 2 cm triangular shard of obsidian (Labelled RPC-512-2). RPC-512-2 features a close resemblance to necklaces found on burial grounds in an archeological site ██ km east of RPC-512. Folklore legends common among native groups who inhabit the area consider the obsidian fragments a divine gift, capable of entrapping malevolent spirits if knapped into a triangular shape.
RPC-512-2 bears no abnormal characteristics, save for being unusually warm to the touch.