Investigation Log: Anomaly O-1883
[continued]
Date: 03/07/1999 @ 15:08
Location: "South of Folkungagatan", a neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden
Foreword: After the initial discovery of the anomaly, agents of Mobile Investigation Team ████████ performed a canvas of Stockholm neighborhood, Gamla Stan[i]. Reports of a delivery vehicle outside the building where the anomaly was recovered, seen just before the inciting incident and bearing the name “Lycklig Leverans” led Agents Carlyle and Sundqvist to a warehouse in the SoFo district.
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[Agents pull up outside the warehouse matching the business address of Lycklig Leverans. Before exiting the vehicle, the Agents check in with Mortfield Industries Command.]
Agent Carlyle: Command, you read us?
Command: Go ahead.
Carlyle: We’ve reached the target, it appears to be a warehouse. Fairly nondescript. Large logo painted on the side of the building with stylized “LL”.
Command: What have you found out about the delivery service?
Agent Sundqvist: Just popped up in the last ten months, never heard of them before this assignment. Only property of record is this address.
Command: Any reason to connect them with the anomaly?
Carlyle: Apparently this was the service that delivered something to that apartment just before the incident. We found shipping packaging that probably held the VHS tape in the apartment, but it was damaged by all the water. It’s a long shot maybe, but it’s what we got.
Command: Go ahead, let’s see what you find.
[Carlyle switches off the encrypted radio and turns to her partner.]
Carlyle: How are we playing it?
[Sundqvist hands Carlyle a badge and windbreaker. Across the back of the jacket is written “Polismyndigheten”.]
Carlyle: Ugh. I hate pretending to be a cop.
Sundqvist: [Exaggerated Russian accent] If not broke, why fix?
[Carlyle frowns and slides out of the vehicle, slipping the windbreaker over her shoulders. She clips the badge to her belt and makes sure her firearm is secured in the holster. Sundqvist walks up to the door of the warehouse and knocks loudly.]
[Several minutes go by and then just as the agent is about to knock on the door again, it opens.]
Carlyle: Totally normal.
[She pulls her firearm and slides into the warehouse, checking for anyone nearby. Seeing it clear, she indicates to her partner to enter. No other individuals are nearby. The space is approximately 6000 square meters and filled with several hundred pallets laden with cardboard boxes. The boxes, pallets and concrete floor of the warehouse are damp. The lights flicker.]
[Sundqvist approaches the nearest pallet and tries to open a box but it peels away in his hand, nearly dissolving at the slightest touch. Several dozen VHS tapes spill out of the remains of the box. He bends to pick one up and holds it up for Carlyle to see. “Gamla Stan Men’s Jazz Club – Midsommar 1988” is printed on the label. The VHS tape itself is dry despite the water damage to the box it was stored in.]
Carlyle: Better and better.
Sundqvist: [Shouting] Swedish Police! Anyone here?[ii]
[No response is returned, so the agents begin searching the warehouse. Several boxes are opened to discover more copies of the anomaly.]
Carlyle: They could drown the whole city with these.
Sundqvist: Don’t forget what happens when the waters recede.
[Sundqvist mimes walking with his arms raised, a moan escapes his lips. Carlyle groans and walks off towards the office. Sundqvist follows. The concrete floor is dotted with puddles. Sundqvist bends down and touches the water’s surface, then smells his fingers.]
Carlyle: Jesus, Mikael. What’re you doing?
Sudqvist: Seawater.
Carlyle: What?
Sundqvist: It’s fucking seawater. How does that happen?
[Carlyle stares down at the water. Nothing is said for approximately a minute.]
Carlyle: Come on, maybe there’s something in there. [Indicating the door to the manager’s office.]
[Carlyle checks her firearm and stands to the side of the door, as Sundqvist reaches for the handle. She looks down at the floor and her body camera picks up motion from the crack under the door.]
Carlyle: Wait!
[Sundqvist is already turning the handle, but then he is slammed back as the door opens violently and a wall of water hits Sundqvist, knocking him to the ground.]
Carlyle: Mikael!
[She braces and wades into the current, dragging Sudqvist’s head above the water. Sundqvist is sputtering and coughing out water while Carlyle drags him free of the deluge. As the flow slows to a trickle, sounds of shuffling feet can be heard splashing within the office.]
[Carlyle turns and raises her weapon, firing twice into the dark space beyond the door. Sundqvist, on his knees, is also firing. A bloated humanoid entity shuffles out of the office, its skin tinged blue and covered in barnacle-like organisms, wearing a tattered shirt and business tie. Several bullet wounds are apparent in the distended torso of the entity, blue black intestines can be seen looping out of a gash in its side.]
[The entity lunges forward towards the agents. Carlyle puts a round through its skull and the entity drops. Gray organic matter splashes against the askew door to the office. More shuffling from within the office can be heard. Sundqvist rises to his feet and turns a flashlight beam into the dark interior, illuminating two more bloated figures staggering towards the door. Sundqvist and Carlyle both fire their weapons several times, dropping both entities.]
Sundqvist: Clear?
[Carlyle steps forward into the office and scans the space.]
Carlyle: Clear.
[Both agents enter the office, Carlyle flipping a light switch on the wall. In the corner of the room, a rolling cart sits with Tv and VCR. On the screen, a marching band plays music in a parade. After a moment, four figures come into focus, singing a distorted gospel song. Water pours from the VCR and the TV speakers. Sundqvist ejects the tape and the water stops pouring.]
Sundqvist: What is going on with these?
Carlyle: [Shaking her head.] I don’t know. Take a look around.
[The two agents begin searching the office. Desks are drenched, piled with dissolving paper.]
[Nearly an hour passes, as the two agent digs through what paperwork remains, most of it nearly impossible to read.]
Sundqvist: I’m not coming up with anything useful over here.
[Carlyle doesn’t respond. Sundqvist turns towards her, and she is visibly staring at a frame on the wall. He approaches and the frame comes further into focus, revealing a framed newspaper article in Swedish. A picture inset into the text shows the same marching band that is on the recording.]
[Sundqvist looks at the article for approximately a minute, presumably reading. Then he takes the frame off the wall.]
Carlyle: What?
Sundqvist: Call Command, get a containment team out here.
END LOG.
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Addendum 1883.3 – Periodical:
MARCHING BAND LOST IN WATER ACCIDENT
Midsommar Parade, Stockholm – June 24, 1988
Early Friday morning, the weather was clear and the sun bright, the perfect sort of day for a parade. The Old Stockholm Men’s Jazz Club, accompanied by gospel singers from America, arrived in Gamla Stan ready to perform. Everything seemed good at first, it seemed perfect. Sunshine and a happy crowd, what better way to ring in Midsommar?
But everything did not go as planned this summer morning. At approximately 10:43, emergency services received calls of a burst water main and several people missing. On arrival, first responders discovered significant water damage to several buildings and numerous medical emergencies.
Casualties included blunt trauma, lacerations and several drownings despite the fact that this occurred in the middle of a sunny day on a city street. Sixteen dead and numerous injured were taken away from the site, but none of the Jazz Club members – including their guests from America – were amongst those found amongst the dead. They have vanished without a trace, police say.
Eyewitnesses have described the performance as going smoothly, until the band began playing a gospel song in English. All of the sudden water erupted from nearby buildings, flooding into the street and carrying many of the spectators away, injuring many in the process.
Stockholm City Management have not released a statement, but an anonymous source within the Public Works department has told this reporter that no evidence of tampering with the water main under the street can be found. Furthermore, the plumbing of those buildings that were the source of the water should not be capable of exuding that volume of water, even if they did burst.
Members of the band are among the only missing after the incident, and authorities have stated that their recovery is a priority. If you or a loved one witnessed the parade and have any information about the incident, please reach out, we’ve set up a tip line at ████████.
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Addendum 1883.4 – UPDATE
Personnel are to pay attention to any reports of flooding of an anomalous manner, especially in Northern Europe. Response teams are to be sent out immediately for any reports concerning flooding where such shouldn’t normally be possible.
The warehouse discovered by responding agents stored over fifteen thousand individual instances of the anomaly, all but one having been destroyed since the incident. No more information was gleaned from the office on the property, and this was the only property registered under the ownership of the company, Lycklig Leverans. Further investigation is to be carried out as a priority in this area. As of yet, no known origin for the videotapes can be ascertained.
[i] Old Town Stockholm – also known as Staden Mellan Broarna (The Town between the Bridges).
[ii] Translated from Swedish.
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Sources:
Grigori Karpin
Mr. Illustrated
