DECLASSIFIED: 151.24:12 (STU)

OCCURRENCE: 4/25/1995 21:04 (LOCAL)

PLANE: 1st

< – BEGIN – PLAYBACK – >

Night has settled in.

We have been traveling into the zone for almost 18 hours. The team (which amounts to about 3 stalkers and a stray dog we found on the road), is exhausted, hungry, and worn down – we could all use a rest. The spring heat may have broken, but the humidity has not. 

The youngest of us, a boy named ████, speaks up. “There are apartments, just up ahead. Stalkers have set up camp there before, it’s safe.”

Safe, of course, is relative out here. Between the roaming hounds, extreme radiation, and guard patrols, it’s hard to find anywhere “safe” to set up camp. Then again, the kid hasn’t led us wrong so far.

“Not too far now. See those buildings?”

The silhouette of the massive concrete monoliths peeking over the treetops was far more unsettling than it was comforting. The birds perching on the rusted antennae didn’t help much either. 

As we walk up to the base of the khrushchevkas, the unsettling feeling of isolation becomes palpable. All these buildings used to hold lives, souls, people, and here we, are hoping we can even find a suitable apartment to sleep in.

The rest of the party does not seem to share my feelings. We decide to split up to look for apartments, and draw straws to see who goes where. The other two will check out the closest buildings, while I will walk down to one at the end of the road.

I set off down the winding road, following the cracked concrete to my destination. As I’m walking, the wind sends a chill down my spine. The sound of the trees and metal form an eerie whistling, like the city itself is calling to me. There is an energy here. A strange feeling of isolation, but a tingling sense that you are not alone. 

The stone staircase is partially destroyed on one side, making getting up a bit tricky. Climbing through the stairs and metal, I manage to squirm my way on to the second floor.

The apartments are in shambles. Most of the windows are broken or uncovered, the roof has caved in some parts, and there’s a perpetual stink. The upper floors clearly aren’t much better – I can see them through the collapsed ceiling. Rain and overgrowth have claimed this building.

As I make my way through the building, something starts to feel off. The wind is oddly still. The branches on the trees look different than before, and it’s suddenly…

Cold. Very cold.

I step outside the building on to a street that is completely transformed. The leaves on the trees are missing, their trunks like thin bones sticking out of the snowy ground. The clear sky has turned into a deep overcast, the moon completely obscured by the clouds. Rain patters against my hat – the only light I have now is my flashlight.

There’s something else. A shape at the end of the road. A figure, cloaked in darkness. I’m immediately unnerved – something is seriously wrong with this picture.

I shine my light at the figure.

It’s a man. Or at least, I think it’s a man. I can’t really tell, because it’s wearing a full hazmat suit. It’s face is completely obscured by a gas mask, with a tube leading to a bag on it’s waist, the purpose of which escapes me as it doesn’t seem to be breathing at all. The equipment looks pretty old, like it’s been sitting around for a long time, with a thin layer of dust coating the tubes.

The thing raises an arm, and points directly at me. Then, wordlessly, it points at the building I came from.

I’m starting to feel genuinely afraid. I try my best to compose myself. Yet on the road ahead me, the thing stares, the lenses of it’s mask like endless pools of ink. It’s head tilts. Does it know I’m staring at? Is there actually someone in there?

That’s when it clicks. This has to be ████, playing a trick on me. And the snow, the cold is just a freak weather change. It has to be. Nothing else would make sense. Yes, weird things happen in the zone, but everyone knows there’s no such thing as ghosts.

I start walking toward the kid. I’ll admit, he got me pretty good. “Hey!” I shout, laughing a little. “Why are you trying to scare people! You shouldn’t be wearing that stuff man, it might be dangero-“

I reach out, to playfully push the kid over.

It disintegrates into dust.

< – ENDE – ENDE – >

ANOMALY DESIGNATION: ADS-███   |  “Ліквідатор“

TYPE: Radiological

THREAT: Moderate

POST-DREAM RECOVERY & REPORT: ADS-███ appears on all EarthClone worlds, in all planes and in all timestreams. In the interest of continued EarthClone operations, when an instance of ADS-███ appears (typically around local year 1985-1992), it is to be located and demolished immediately. ADS-███ can vary from plane to plane, however, it consistently appears as a 4-5 story bloc-style apartment complex with a partially or fully collapsed roof. ADS-███ will always appear in Vyshhorod Raion. Preventative dream requirements have been added to the DREAMERS’ rotations.

DREAM SUBJECT REPORT: ████████ █████ was recovered on a road ~35m away from ADS-███. Despite the DR being generated roughly 30 minutes prior to CIPHER teams arriving on site, the subject was found deceased, covered in extreme radiation burns, and in an advanced state of decay. Dosimeters registered the corpse emanating nearly 810 Sv/h. Attempts to decontaminate the corpse proved unsuccessful; therefore, the corpse was extracted via orbital gravity towing lines and promptly disposed of in the SolClone.

NOTES: Contact of any kind with the entities within ADS-███ is strictly forbidden. Do not attempt to touch or speak to the entities within ADS-███.