R.O.A.N - FIELD REPORT #047

R.O.A.N - RESEARCH OF ANOMALIES TO NOVA

Anomalous Botany Division

FIELD REPORT #047 - "PUMPKIN"

Date: 10/23/2023

Lead Investigator: Dr. E. Vance

Status: ARCHIVED - DO NOT REPLICATE

Location: Sector C-9, Greenhouse 3

SUMMARY:

Subjects: Cucurbita maxima [Common Pumpkin] - Batch 7

Anomalous root growth was observed starting on Day 12 after exposure to substrate NOVA-04.

OBSERVATIONS:

Day 12:

Secondary roots are not seeking water. They grow upward. They break the surface and become exposed to the air. Inverted negative phototropism.

Day 15:

Aerial roots begin to intertwine with each other. They form a network between the 7 pumpkins in the batch. If one root is cut, the other 6 secrete a thick black liquid. Coagulation time: <3 seconds.

Day 18:

The agent we designate as R.R.V. - Root Rot Virus appears.

It is not normal rot. The pumpkin does not soften. It becomes hollow and hard on the inside. When struck, it sounds as if it were empty. But it weighs 3 TIMES MORE.

TRANSCRIBED AUDIO NOTE [Dr. Vance - 02:14 AM]: "It's not rot. It's... building something inside. I cut one open today. There were no seeds inside. There were... fibers. Like white hairs moving. It smelled like wet earth and copper. I think it's listening to us through the roots."

Day 21:

All the pumpkins in Batch 7 are oriented toward the same corner of the greenhouse. Not toward the sun. Toward the wall. Infrared cameras detect a thermal pulse every 7 seconds coming from inside the fruits.

R.R.V. spreads through root contact. A healthy plant 10 cm away was infected within 6 hours without direct root contact. We suggest underground spore propagation.

CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL:

DO NOT WATER BATCH 7
DO NOT CUT THE AERIAL ROOTS
IF YOU HEAR A KNOCKING SOUND INSIDE THE PUMPKIN, EXIT THE GREENHOUSE AND SEAL THE DOOR

ANNEX - RECOVERED IMAGE - CAMERA 3 [10/23/23 - 03:33 AM]

[CORRUPTED FILE]

[A mass of roots is observed covering the lens]

[In the background, 7 pumpkins. 6 on the ground. 1 showing erratic movements resembling convulsions or living flesh motion... for 15 minutes.]