PSYCHOWEAPONS INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION AUTHOR: VICTOR BRUNO
FOR READ ONLY
INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION
During my time as a psychologist for the 34th Brigade and the Order as a whole, the Expedition became yet another demonstration of the superiority of alien technology over the human mind. It's worth emphasizing that we're talking specifically about technology, not the psionic capabilities of our enemy, whoever they may be. The Nomads created by the Daam-K'Vosh are truly a model of this race's technological progress, and the structures we found in the Abyss were not living beings. They were automated and powerful systems, capable of the level of communication we're accustomed to calling telepathic.
However, what happened during the Expedition cannot be described as the classic telepathic influence usually reported with Nomads. In the case of the structures, we are talking about multiple types of interaction with the human brain. In this article, I will briefly examine the various methods and how we countered them.
┌ CONTENT
├ [0] - General information - How mental contagion works
├ [1] - Visual infection - A mental infection transmitted through eye contact
├ [2] - Auditory infection - A mental infection transmitted by sounds that contain an embedded "code" that causes infection
├ [3] - Final information - Anything that does not relate to the sections above
GENERAL INFORMATION
Psychoweapon - a method of inflicting mental damage on a victim by penetrating their head, during which internal instincts are restructured and activation of certain triggers.
Unlike the Nomads standard mental attacks, psychic weapons inflict instantaneous damage, which is often irreversible. Psychic weapons can be divided into several levels of impact:
Hidden Damage - The victim is already infected, is a carrier, and transmits the infection to others, but shows no signs of infection. Furthermore, the victim is unaware of their infection and behaves as they did before infection. About half of the cases of infection in the 34th Brigade were of this nature.
Weak mental infection - The victim experiences insomnia, overwork[1], and also experiences strong hallucinations. The symptoms may appear all together or separately. The latter is accompanied by nightmares, the plots of which are often linked to the victim's traumatic memories. Hallucinations carry realistic images that can lead to tragic consequences. The effects of infection are reversible if the source of infection is destroyed or keep infected person from carriers of infection for some period of time.
Medium mental infection - The victim displays signs of open aggression, with the intent of harming others or themselves[2]. The victim will utterly refuse contact and will seek ways to self-destruct if threatened with capture. Almost all cases of psychosis and flashes have been associated with this level of infection. However, the victim still remains sane for some time[3] before finally falling. This level of infection is irreversible and cannot be reduced to lower levels. The infected person's personality is completely destroyed. The only option is to terminate them on the spot.
Heavy mental infection - Instant and irreversible infection[4]. The victim's personality, habits, and behavior may persist and appear to be Hidden Damage, but this is not the case[5]. The victim's new personality is fully aware of its actions and seeks to destroy its environment and itself. Immediate and on-site termination is necessary.
While the categories appear a bit confusing, the attached cases of infection demonstrate the manifestation of varying levels of infection. Based on this information, the Daam-K'Vosh did not possess standard methods of mental influence. The Daam-K'Vosh were capable of reshaping their victim's personality either immediately or gradually, depending on their preferences.
Here I'll make a slight digression. We still don't know the full capabilities of our brains, despite the Houses enormous technological advances over the past 835 years. We are unable to delve deeper into our heads to control the instincts that nature has implanted within us. This is something that evolution has implanted in each of us, and which we still cannot discover. There are numerous cases of people on the brink of death who have transformed into their primal selves and managed to get out of trouble. This is precisely what I'm talking about here. This is precisely what I'm writing about here. There is something that sits in our heads, waiting for its time to awaken. Our heads are like computers, their settings adjustable to our whim. If only we knew how.
If we could do that, then the lucky one who got his hands on such powerful technology could plunge all of Sirius into darkness with a single wave of his hand. The Daam-K'Vosh possessed such technology. We weren't destroyed by some simple weapon. We were destroyed by ourselves. The entire Expedition is a process of self-destruction of the personal image of each unfortunate soul who delved so deeply into the Abyss. We didn't go there in vain. If the Order isn't prepared for a scenario like this, then all our efforts to protect humanity will be mere pitiful attempts to keep things under control.
The following list of infection categories and our methods for combating them is merely a rudimentary approach, but it has already reduced the frequency of psychoses during the Expedition. Nevertheless, we will have to resort to this approach if incidents similar to those in the Abyss become a reality in Sirius.
VISUAL INFECTION
Visual infection - Eye contact with any object or carrier of information about an object (photograph, paper with text), which has an embedded code that leads to a certain degree of contamination.
Visual infection is the simplest way to penetrate a victim's brain, either to turn them into a carrier or to establish a connection with the carrier and gradually infect their mind. Most infections of this type resulted in the second or third stage of infection. The method is simple not because it is effective, but because it was a common method for structures to defend themselves against "uninvited guests," a role the 34th Brigade assumed.
Although publication of infected material is impossible due to its disinfection through certain settings on our ships' video cameras and other infection prevention methods, we will examine this category through examples.
This is an example of a photograph one of our agents took at Freeport-9 many years ago. It's an archived image, carrying no information and posing no threat. If it were an infected image, the infection would be transmitted through:
The structure of the image: The text at the top of the screen or the pattern created by the figures in the photo.
The color palette: Color combinations can also lead to infection and cause you to become infected to varying degrees.
It's important to understand that the first point of transmission for such an infection is your eyes. They receive the information that visually creates the desired effect in your brain. There's a slight chance you won't immediately spot the infection's "code" in the image and simply put it aside. Nothing will happen to you. But if your gaze catches on something, expect trouble. The priority areas that I paid attention to, using this particular photograph as an example, I have indicated below.
The woman's pose in the center, the gesture to the right, two people in the lower left corner, and the screens above. Added to all this are the ship's engines in the background, behind the glass. Each of these elements could contain a "code" that will rewire our minds forever. A logical question arises: "How to deal with this?" During the Expedition, we immediately resorted to image distortion methods. The primary goal is to prevent the eye from recognizing what's actually in the image. Therefore, all images are taken in black and white, with a blur effect and a slight noise effect. This is literally the final level of tuning for all cameras on the Brigade's ships during the Expedition.
If we consider the above sample as a possible carrier of infection, then the final version, taking into account all the settings, will look like this.
Experience shows that the infection code ceases to function when using such settings. Yes, the image is blurry, and it's just a photo taken at Freeport. Imagine what you'd see in space. Or rather, what you wouldn't see. This is where our scientists' imaginations and their notes on the photographs, describing the objects and their purpose, came into play. These barbaric methods, however, allowed us to avoid unnecessary problems. It could be said that all the pictures in the Expedition were divided into blurry originals and literally drawn copies.
With the text variant of the infection, the situation is different. Some infected people liked to leave "surprises" in the form of notes containing the infection, in order to transfer the infection to others and move the case from the Psychosis category to the Flash category.
The methods for combating this variant of infection were as follows:
Inspect your premises before entering or leaving. Do not open any leaflets you find and burn them.
Be extremely careful with all paper materials passed from hand to hand, whether it be any documentation, a photograph, or a piece of toilet paper.
If asked to look through paper material, close your eyes, take the paper in your hands and fold it in half.
If you enter a room and already see a suspicious drawing, then immediately look away and think about something else.[6]
In any of the above cases, immediately inform the ship's duty officer.
Note: The experiment was conducted to determine the capabilities of the human brain and the process by which infection penetrates the victim's consciousness.
Auxiliary Sam Livesey volunteered for the experiment and gave his full consent to all consequences, including termination, should the situation get out of control. Livesey was placed in an interrogation chamber and handcuffed. The security cameras were disabled, and the transparent glass was covered. Remotely activated devices were installed throughout the chamber to trigger a fire in the room, in case the experiment went awry. The image in his hands was a drawing left by Elder Auxiliary Alex Stellan, who had been eliminated the day before.
S: Okay, sir, I am ready to watch that picture. V: You can still regret, Sam. Do not forget that you even agreed on termination. We do not know what gonna happen after you'll see that picture. No one knows. S: It's okay, sir. We have no other way but this. V: Okay. As soon as you see this image, immediately look away. Literally the moment you look at it, immediately look away. Understood? And report everything you sense. Is the infantry ready? 1-1: Yes, we ready.
The sound of paper was heard. Sam looked at the image.
S: Already watched. V: Did you look away?! S: Yes, yes, I- I did!
Heavy breathing can be heard.
S: This crap is creeping into my head... Damn... V: Think about something else! Listen! Any intrusive memory, anything, think about it! S: Yes- Try- Trying... Oh fuck...
Sam's breathing is tinged with panic. At one point, he starts slamming his hands on the table.
S: GOD FUCK GET THIS SHIT OUT OF MY HEAD! V: Keep fighting with it Sam! Try to get this thing out of your head! Don't give up the fight! We'll think of something right now! 1-1: This is madness, Victor, damn it! S: I can't, I can't- God please help! Somebody help! V: Keep fighting Sam. Do you hear me?! S: Yes, yes, I ca- 1-1: You're fucking bastard Victor! I'm launching the devices. S: No, no, Jimm, sir, don't do it! Ahhh fuck-
Livesey's heavy breathing gradually subsides, as does his panic. An hour later, he shows no signs of infection and behaves as before the experiment began. He retains all memories of what happened.
Note: Although we no longer take such risks after this experiment, we can confidently say that humans are still capable of fighting these types of infections. The key is to immediately identify which objects are suspicious and which are not. And most importantly, promptly reporting what's happening. Theoretically, humans can fight the infection, but the outcome is highly questionable.
Regarding Livesey's fate: he died towards the end of the expedition, during Incident #1-833-C9.
Auditory infection - The infection is transmitted through words and sounds, which contain an embedded "code" that triggers the infection.
As a rule, a sound infection is the most untraceable source, and there are no methods to combat it. Cases of infection transmitted through this route have typically been widespread, and are therefore classified as Flashes.
The only reliable way to combat such cases is as follows:
Monitor any movements on board ships, especially the movement of several people towards areas where people may potentially congregate.
Immediately report any increase in the number of suspicious groups, isolate all premises leading to this group and take measures to eliminate this group.
All people infected through the sonic infection are considered moderately or severely infected, and therefore their elimination is a priority for the infantry units on board the ship. Unfortunately, we are unable to isolate each crew member from each other, as this would lead to a decrease in crew effectiveness in emergency situations and many other negative consequences. Therefore, the only reliable approach is to combat the infection as described above. Given the rarity of such cases, it can be assumed that carriers of this code are those severely infected, and these are isolated cases. Furthermore, this type of infection cannot be caused by any means other than visual contamination. Therefore, isolating a person from potential sources of infection is a guaranteed method of control.
FINAL INFORMATION
The above cases are only the most noticeable for us. If even a single case of infection were to occur, the entire unit could be at risk. Yes, this literally means the 34th Brigade is still infected, in my opinion.
And here I will explain it this way. For the structures to control and manage us, they need a path, a "bridge" between their brains and ours. Visual or auditory infection allows for a connection that can be used at any time. Based on Alexandra Sergeeva's notes, I suggest that the only sure option is to distance ourselves as far from the "command post" as possible and avoid contact with it for a long time. Exactly how long it will take for our minds to be "cleansed" of the infection is unknown.
But as long as the Daam-K'Vosh intermediaries (not Nomads, it is important to note, namely, someone who is directly connected with them and us), or the Daam-K'Vosh structures themselves do not contact us, we are fine. If we've been there for about a year, then it'll take us about that long, or even longer, to completely lose contact. Then we can return to the Abyss without risking the effects of the infection. Essentially, they'll have to get inside our heads again.
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Experiment: Aux. Livesey