AT460: Mammoth Tusk Flute

Containment Protocol

Primary Anomaly AT460 is held in Storage Room 5A at Harbor 57, and when not in use it must be kept in a climate-controlled container to ensure the item remains in the highest quality possible. The temperature of the item's container must never fall below freezing temperatures as to prevent the activation of its anomalous properties and a minimal amount of moisture should be present to prevent any damage. This container must be checked for damage or defects in climate control at least once each week. The item itself is to be kept secured on a small display within its container, which must be checked for damage as well.

Members of staff are required to wear hand coverings when handling the item to prevent the spread of its freezing effect.

Any test involving AT460 must be approved by at least three members of Harbor 57's Research Division. A proposal must be produced by filling out Form #460-15A including the specifics of the potential test and the remains that would be introduced to the item if the test were approved. An independent review by members of the AT460 Research Team will determine whether the remains utilized in the proposed test were procured via ethical means before a decision will be made. The method of procurement of said remains must be detailed within the proposal as well Once these requirements have been met, any tests performed on the item must be done in Testing Room B located in the Southeast Wing of the site.

If the remains being introduced to Primary Anomaly AT460 possesses any kind of anomalous properties of their own, Form #460-15B must be filled out and included with the proposal form along with any extra documents depending on the anomaly being introduced to the item. A separate review will be made in this case as well to ensure any cross testing between anomalies is truly worth pursuing.

Once testing has been approved, AT460 must be moved via a specialized cart designed for carrying its container to maintain the temperature around the item itself prior to testing. A projector can be found on the wall to the right of Testing Room B along with a projector stand where the item will be placed upon testing.

Description

Primary Anomaly AT460 is a flute fashioned from the tusk of a wooly mammoth which always possesses a low surface temperature regardless of the environmental conditions around it. Believed to have been crafted by a tribe of early humans during the late Pleistocene Epoch, estimated to be about 40,000 years old. It is believed that the item was connected to a burial ritual practiced by the tribe both due to the circumstances in which it was found, as it was initially discovered being held by the skeleton of an adult human, and the nature of its primary anomalous property. If this hypothesis could be wholeheartedly verified, the music the item plays while active may provide a wealth of information regarding culture of Stone Age humanity.

The item possesses a number of minor anomalous properties such as its consistent cold surface temperature. This cold temperature extends to any surface it is placed against for an extended period of time, including living flesh. Due to this freezing property, handling the item barehanded even for a brief moment can pose a serious risk for frostbite. Researchers have noted that wearing any kind of glove significantly decreases the anomaly's effect on its handler.

Another minor oddity is the item's ability to funnel wind through itself regardless of the air conditions surrounding it. This causes the air syphoned through to cool but does not produce noise from the flute.

The primary anomalous property exhibited by Primary Anomaly AT460 activates upon introducing it to the remains of any living thing within the genus Homo. The physical state of these remains do not appear to matter to the item as it has activated when introduced to completely intact bodies, human remains of various stages of decay, cremated remains, fossilized remains of ancient hominid species, and preserved human organs. It has been discovered that these remains must belong to a dead human being as samples taken from living humans, such as skin grafts or blood samples, do not activate the item. The smallest specimen confirmed to have activated the anomaly has been a fragment of a skull believed to belong to Homo habilis measuring approximately 3' in length.

AT460 will only activate this anomalous property when placed within an environment with a temperature below 30 Degrees Fahrenheit. When not in this kind of environment, the presence of remains as described above will only exacerbate the item's minor properties.

Once introduced to these remains, the item will begin to rapidly funnel air through itself and project it outwards through the tone holes. Air funneled by the item cools to freezing temperatures and forms into a thick mist which pools around an inch on the floor around the object. Along with this, the flute utilizes the air it processes to play a deep soulful song which has so far been unidentified¹.

When placed at an angle where its tone holes are facing a flat surface, the other aspect of its primary anomalous property as a blue light is emitted from the item. This light forms into images against the respective surface depicting simplified figures of various living things and objects. These figures include human beings, animals, objects, and environmental details when pertinent to the "story" the item depicts when active. This includes objects and animals that did not exist during the Paleolithic Age such as domesticated animals, large-scale cities and castles, modern forms of transportation, automatic weaponry, and cell phones. The presence of these items can be explained by the time period in which the presented remains died within as these objects play roles of varying significance within the object's "story".

These "stories" depict the final moments of the individual the remains once belonged to, providing a simplified portrayal of the death of the associated individual. More mundane causes of death discovered due to the anomaly have included disease, war, murder of varying degrees, bizarre mishappenings, and predation or attacks by animals. A number of supernatural causes of death have been noted as well including anomalous biohazards, hostile entities, and random acts of chaos.

Various specimens whose cause of death have been confirmed by several eyewitnesses have been introduced to Primary Anomaly AT460 as a means of confirming the "stories" the anomaly tells. Every single test of this nature has proven the item indeed provides accurate details regarding the death of individuals presented to it.

Addenda

History

Primary Anomaly AT460 was first discovered in March of 1975 by a team of civilian archeologists while examining a dig site in Northern Siberia. This site contained the skeletal remains of several ancient humans, most of which were articulated within what was believed to be a burial site. Each of these articulated bodies possessed a handful of objects believed to have been grave goods given by grieving members of the tribe, AT460 being one of those items. With all of the requirements met at the time, the item activated when fully exhumed.

Stories of a strange prehistoric flute producing a freezing mist with no reasonable explanation caught the attention of ORCA Agents, leading to a team of five field agents being sent to the area. The flute would be confiscated and any news around the object would be labelled as a total fabrication. Before civilian witnesses were given treatment the team would interrogate the archeologists who would direct them to the site. This is where an initial understanding of the item would be formed as it reacted to the skeletal remains in the same way when reintroduced. Once it was clear the item did possess anomalous properties, the field agents placed it into a small container and transported it to Harbor 57.

An initial evaluation of the item would reveal nothing of significance though much of its minor anomalous properties would be discovered within the first month of its containment at Harbor 57. It wouldn't be until August of 1975 that researchers would attempt to recreate the circumstances in which it was first discovered. AT460 would be placed in a climate-controlled test chamber and into the hands of the preserved body of Agent Ives². This would properly activate the item, causing it to produce a freezing mist and a faint blue light from its tone holes. This hint of light prompted one of the researchers present to point the item's tone holes towards one of the holes, fully activating the item. In this test, researchers had discovered the first "story" told by AT460.

Further testing would take place over the following decades involving the remains of many other human beings as well as other animals. This would allow researchers to narrow down the range of living things the item would react to and develop hypotheses regarding the possibility of it possessing some kind of sentience or a reverence for hominids. As of 2025, the primary area of research is attempting to explain AT460's knowledge and (seeming) fondness for species which had gone extinct millennia before ancient humans first appeared.

Abridged Log of "Stories"

Below is a non-exhaustive log of recorded instances introduced to AT460. For a complete log of these "stories", see Document-AT460-1. Recordings of these "stories" can be found within the Harbor 57 Digital Archives as well as in physical forms in the onsite Library.