In the sealed briefing room, the projector hums as a blurred-out man gestures toward a thermal scan of a patient’s ribcage. His voice is clean, clipped, but the phrase he’s about to use doesn’t exist in any clinical textbook.
“We believe the bone is now operating as a second-order logic substrate,” he says.
No one laughs. A woman from DHSC crosses herself under the table.
Somewhere else in Hackney, Naila is vomiting in her sink. She coughs until her throat bleeds. When she stops, something sits in the water — small, grey, ribbed. Not a tooth. Not a stone. Something between instruction and sculpture.
Later, she wraps it in foil. It burns through. She puts it in a jar. It fogs the glass. She buries it in the garden. The neighbour’s dog digs it up, barks once, and runs into traffic.
DOCUMENT: COBR BRIEFING — RED FOLDER — 06/04/2029
RE: POST-ESTONIA INFILTRATION FINDINGS
TOPICS:
- Estimated 4,000+ UK cases showing early-stage bone logic encoding
- Confirmed disappearance of 3 microbiologists from UCL, 1 from Edinburgh
- Ongoing sleep collapse in urban clusters
KEY QUOTES:
• “We are not fighting a disease. We are interpreting an emergence.”
• “The broadcast seeded interface logic into cortical patterns.”
• “Infected subjects are not contagious. They are recursive.”
RECOMMENDATIONS:
– Tier 4 blackout over all research terms: ‘calcite bloom’, ‘bone OS’, ‘marrow wave’
– Media phrase suggestion: “neurostructural mythos disorder”
– Pre-emptive counter-conspiracy seeding on social media
NOTE:
Foreign agencies showing signs of identical emergence vectors.
UCL MOLECULAR SCIENCES – INCIDENT LOG
DATE: 2029-04-05
RESEARCHERS REPORTED MISSING:
- Dr. Hassan Emmons (last badge swipe 04:21:17)
- Dr. Irene Zu (no sign-out, mobile signal cut)
- Dr. M. Kaali (workstation found wiped)
- Dr. J. Beltran (found notes in lab drawer: "Don’t let the bones finish thinking.")
NOTES:
- Lab C7 shows evidence of system intrusion (non-remote)
- Floor sensor activated despite door never opening
- Sample 47A missing from cryo storage
TAGS:
#marrowloop #interfaceconstruct #recursivehazard
SAMPLE TAG: 47A-BETA-RECURSION
SOURCE: Unknown (delivered unlogged, contained in amber-coloured foil)
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
• Size: 4cm oval, ribbed casing, not mineral
• Appears self-cohering: resists melting, transmits low-frequency vibration
• Emits heat during biometric proximity
BIOLOGICAL FINDINGS:
- Structure responds to soft tissue; signal spikes during REM observation
- Crystalline layer contains embedded glyphs (not noise, not natural)
- Engraving repeats one symbol: resembles ‘C’ mirrored over horizontal bar
CONCLUSION:
Not organic. Not fully inorganic. Possibly a designed intermediary.
Filed by: M.I. Crane, Field Analysis Lead (Temporary Clearance)
SUBJECT: PUBLIC GUIDANCE — “SIS” SYMPTOMS RESPONSE
DRAFT – NOT FOR CIRCULATION
OBJECTIVE:
Create stable narrative for public to process unexplained symptoms:
• Bone discomfort or “internal signal sensation”
• Sleep loss with vivid geometric dreaming
• Brief episodes of wordless empathy or knowledge transfer
• Sudden phonemic echoing (repeating phrases heard only internally)
WORKING DIRECTION:
Avoid terms like “infection” or “spread”. Use “resonance adaptation”.
PHRASE TESTED POSITIVE:
> “A new interface is unfolding.”
PREFERRED TONE:
- Gentle, grounding, validating
- Avoid terms like “mutation” or “hallucination”