Anomaly T-3558
Location:
Montelupich Prison in Kraków, Poland
Background:
Originally a manor, the prison was converted to its current use by the Nazi occupiers during World War II, primarily to house Polish political prisoners. Numerous war crimes occurred against those Polish prisoners during the occupation. After the end of the war, the prison was retained for use by the Soviet government. The prison has stayed in use throughout the remainder of the Twentieth Century.
On 13 December, 2005, an emergency call was made from the prison:
Ø “Please, send help. We’ve lost control of the prisoners. They’re exhibiting [indecipherable] and we need reinforcements! Please, I repeat, we need reinf–”
Initial arrival onsite by members of the Kraków Police Department occurred within 15 minutes.
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Transcript of Police Body Camera 13/12/2005 @ 22:15
[Officers Zych and Rogowski exit their vehicle and approach the gate to the prison. The guard booth is abandoned. Zych pulls her radio out of its holster.]
Zych: Central, this is Unit 363. We’ve arrived at Montelupich. There’s no one at the front gate.
Central: Status?
Zych: No one in sight, but the gate is open.
Central: More units are on their way, only proceed if you can do so safely.
[Zych turns to her partner.]
Zych: My cousin works at this prison. We proceed until I see him.
[The two officers approach the gate which is slightly ajar. They draw their weapons.]
Zych: Kraków Police! We received a distress call from this facility! Can anyone hear me?
Rogowski: Hey, not sure that’s a good idea.
[Zych nods and moves in the courtyard of the prison, towards the main entrance which also stands open. Murmuring is heard on the recording. Neither officer acknowledges it.]
[Both officers enter the prison proper and find each door open. When they approach the security station, they find two prison guards collapsed on the floor. One has been bludgeoned with a blunt weapon until his head and upper chest have been caved in. The other is lying face down in a puddle of blood. Zych turns aside to vomit. Rogowski pulls his radio up.]
Rogowski: Central, we’ve found several prison officers down. Very dead.
Central: Retreat and wait for back up.
Rogowski: We’re going.
[Rogowski helps Zych up, but she pushes him off.]
Zych: We’re not going anywhere!
[Rogowski continues to pull her towards the exit.]
Zych: Get off me, we need to find out what’s happening!
[A noise from further into the prison makes both turn to look past the security station. A prisoner is unsteadily walking towards them. His uniform is in shreds, and his hands and forearms are covered in blood. Both officers raise their weapons.]
Zych: Freeze! Get down on the ground!
Prisoner: Here comes a crawfish.
Rogowski: What’s he saying?
Zych: Who fucking cares? Get down on the ground, shit bird!
[As the prisoner gets closer he comes out of the shadows. He is wearing a guard uniform shirt over his ragged prisoner uniform.]
Prisoner: So annoying.
Zych: Hey, where’d you get that uniform? Tell me!
Rogowski: What are you talking about?
Prisoner: If it bites you…
Zych: Fuck this.
[Zych fires her weapon, striking the prisoner in the abdomen. He doesn’t notice other than compensating for the impact of the bullet. He rushes the two officers.]
Prisoner: IT LEAVES A MARK.[i]
[The prisoner tackles Rogowski, bringing them both to the concrete floor, his gun clattering to the ground. The prisoner begins striking the officer as he tries to get free and also block the blows simultaneously.]
[Zych tries to pull the prisoner off her partner, but he slips free of her grasp and pounces on Rogowski again.]
Rogowski: Get him off me!
[Zych tries again to pull the prisoner off but he resists her. She puts the barrel of her gun against the prisoner’s head. The prisoner turns to look at Zych. His mouth and face are covered in blood. His eyes are pitch black.]
Prisoner: Here comes–
[Zych fires her service weapon. The prisoner’s skull deforms and collapses in on itself as brains and blood spray across Rogowski. Zych pulls Rogowski to his feet, who bends over to pick up his weapon. Zych bends down and examines the bloody guard uniform. She runs a finger along the name badge. It reads “M. Zych”.]
Rogowski: Fuck, I’m sorry.
[He places a hand on Zych’s shoulder. She shrugs him off. She continues to stare at the name plate for a few more moments, shaking slightly.]
Rogowski: We really need to get out of here.
[Footsteps from off camera can be heard. Zych turns as dozens of prisoners can be seen approaching the officers from down the hall. Many are wounded, but all are draped in blood and rags.]
Prisoners: [In unison] Here comes a crawfish…
[Zych and Rogowski open fire, emptying their magazines into the crowd. Some fall away wounded or dead, the others continue to push forward and begin to run towards the officers who retreat to the entrance and shut the double doors. Zych slides her baton through the two handles. Zych helps Rogowski retreat back to the street.]
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Within thirty minutes Montelupich was surrounded by police personnel. Military aid was called for to secure the building with overwhelming force. Without the local government’s knowledge, NBC embedded agents had infiltrated the Soviet forces responding to the situation. Agent-led assault teams cleared the prison, eliminating or subduing all affected prisoners. They found that every guard in the facility had been killed by the prisoners and each of the prisoners exhibited an altered mental state, refusing to say anything unless it was the lines of a Polish nursery rhyme.
As the final groups of prisoners were rounded up, a small band were seen fleeing into the basement levels of the prison. NBC Agent Antonov led a small group of soldiers after the escapees. The following is an excerpt from the transcript[ii] of that action:
04:05 – Agent Antonov and four soldiers enter the basement via stars and begin moving down a corridor.
04:09 – The party finds several of the prisoners, all three are deceased. One of the prisoners had been severed in half just above his navel. The wound is ragged as if the prisoner had been torn in two.
04:15 – Sergeant Petrov notes that the corridor has extended beyond the limits of the floor plan.
04:21 – Agent Antonov notes that the corridor is widening, while the air is showing increased humidity.
04:27 – The party comes across the last of the prisoners. They have been torn apart and spread across the corridor which has widened out into a vast open space. It is impossible to estimate how many prisoners the remains represent due to the catastrophic damage to the bodies. Blood and viscera are spread more than fifteen meters across the space in all directions. Unrecognizable tracks are found in the offal trailing further away in the direction the party has been traveling. Agent Antonov decides to continue in pursuit of whatever had killed the prisoners.
04:35 – The party finds a large body of water in the space. The material of the area has slowly changed from the concrete of the prison to natural rock and sediment. The air is noted to smell like the sea.
04:38 – The party travels along the “beach” for many meters before finding a natural seeming rock formation in the form of a loop extending out from the water. The last footage of the recording reveals several large entities emerging from the water. The entities exhibit long tubular bodies with chitinous exoskeleton, terminating in at least four clawed appendages with which they use to attack the soldiers. Agent Antonov witnesses the soldiers torn apart by the claws before attempting to flee, tripping over one of the bodies and falling, damaging the camera.
No members of the party were recovered and all are considered KIA.
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The prison was sealed, any surviving prisoners executed, and the NBC covered up the incident claiming that asbestos was discovered within the prison, forcing the government to shut down the facility.
Ground penetrating radar revealed that the corridor traveled down by the prisoners and Antonov’s group still exists and is growing at a rate of approximately two square meters per year. No further sightings of the entities have been recorded at this time.
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[i] Idzie rak,
Nieborak.
Jak ugryzie,
Będzie znak.
[ii] Footage was broadcast back to ranking NBC officers inside the temporary operating base set up within the prison.
Sources:
Grigori Karpin
Michael Lee-Graham
