Case Listings from the Archives of Balaam, Zann, and Associates: 15-661 – Yhdarl
It’s all over, man. It’s all over. This is it. The end. I don’t see any way that we’re making it out of this. What? Who? You and me, that’s who! We tried to set things right. We tried, dammit! Maybe we just made things worse. I dunno. Who? What do you mean who? Oh, right. Let me back up.
My name’s Mendel, and I’m a… consultant in the employ of Balaam, Zann, and Associates. What? No, I’m not surprised. People don’t really don’t know about us. Not unless they have a problem, that is. That’s what we do. We solve problems. I can’t really go int… Ah hell, what does it matter anymore? We solve problems of a very, errr, specific nature. The kind of problems most people won’t have. Most people, haha! Most people are going to be having a problem now, I guess. The whole thing’s FUBAR. What? Alright, alright, I’m getting to that.
Okay, here’s the deal. BZ&A is a firm that solves problems. Specifically, we investigate incidents of a particular nature. We look for doors that need to be closed. Well, not doors, per se. Apertures might be a better word. But anyway, we look for these doors, or windows, or holes, or whatever, and we seal them. These doors, they… they provide access of sorts to certain… entities. Certain things that live parallel to us. Does that make sense? There are things beyond these doors, and for some reason they come here. What? Hell if I know. They all seem to have different intents, but we have found a sort of commonality. They all seem to be drawn to music, or at least stuff that might loosely be called music.
Anyway, that’s where we come in. We get tipped off as to something fishy happening, we roll onto a site, we check it out. We determine what level of incursion it is. Sometimes it’s just a tool. That’s when it’s easiest to deal with. Usually it’s not, though. So, BZ&A sends one of us in, we find out what’s going on, then we use our very, very special equipment that we got from an aperture and we close the door. At least, we thought we closed all those doors. Hell, maybe we didn’t do any good whatsoever.
What? Oh, fine, I’ll get to the point. Look, these doors, the ones we thought we closed. They’re all opening! Again! We don’t have the personnel to deal with that. We don’t know how it happened, and if I’m being frank, I don’t think the bigwigs have any idea what to do now. As far as I reckon, there’s nothing we can do. I plan on driving out to my cabin, pouring myself some scotch, and waiting for the world to end. Just gonna watch it all burn, baby! Hmmm? Hell no, I’m not putting my neck on the line anymore! I’m taking a big enough risk as is telling you all this. If the brass figures out where this info came from… No duh, Sherlock. Mendel’s not my real name! You think I’d just tell you that? So yeah, I’m just going to go to my cabin and wait it out.
You still don’t understand, do you? Dammit, the Doc said I needed to get this info out there. He said that knowledge is the only thing that may save people. Psssh. Sounds stupid to me. You may think I’m a coward, but I’d rather die in comfort than trying to fix this mess. I wouldn’t even be spreading the news if the Doc hadn’t asked me. I owe him. Anyway, here’s the first file. I’m spreading this distro out so that it’s harder to track me. I’m still keeping my word, but I’m not going to sit around here all day with my thumb up my ass uploading files waiting for who knows what to find me. Here’s the first case listing. You’re on your own from here. Don’t try to find me.
15-661P
Case Number 15-661D | Case Name: Und So Beginnt Es
Subject Identification: Code Name: Yhdarl | First Name: Déhà | Last Name: Unknown
Subject Location: Belgium – Observation Zone 6
Subject Information: Subject is a middle-aged male of unknown descent (possibly Bulgarian) currently living in Belgium. At the time of writing, it is still unknown if the subject has genuinely made contact with the parallels or not. Evidence indicates a prodigious talent for music (some of the associates have even referred to it as genius-level), and the amount of activity correlates with other records for volume output after encountering an aperture. Still, many of the phenomena (See Attachment 15-661A for details) may be explained as possible, albeit highly unlikely, coincidences.
What we do know is that since at least 2010, the subject has generated an alarmingly high output of material unlike anything else in the files. Most often these contents consist of tortured screams, jarring rhythmic changes, and indecipherable vocal emanations. The meditations on record veer dangerously from violent outbursts to unsettling ambiance seemingly at random, and there’s a pervasive gloom and melancholy throughout. Audio analysis indicates layers upon layers of dense vocal chants of arcane origin. These vocals pervade all recordings and may be responsible for reported feelings of terror and strange hallucinatory phenomena. Analysis also shows that the sustained guitar notes and rhythmic pulses are augmented by what appear to be sounds of torture, but the origins of these sounds is unknown at this time. Evidence shows that the subject is a master of dynamics, and 15-661D is an exercise in infernal endurance. Slow, compounding tension plummets listeners into a state of suspenseful unease before caustic instruments blast and disorient unexpectedly. The subject wields both aggression and empty space effectively to render listeners vulnerable and confused. The entirety of 15-661D sounds distant and cavernous, bolstering feelings of paranoia and sickness. Interestingly, the subject seems to transition from one manifestation of his dissociative identity disorder to another, writing, recording and releasing completely unique music under the new identity. This latest release comes from the Yhdarl persona, and it seems to have a fixation with hatred and torment.
Most interestingly, however, is the effect these releases have on others. Prior to contacting us, our clients in the subject’s home province recorded a bizarre series of incidents wherein civilians who came into contact with the previous creation of Yhdarl persona grew uncharacteristically violent, causing bodily harm to themselves and others in the vicinity before losing consciousness. When the victims awakened from their trance-like states, they were typically entirely unaware of the events that led up to their current state. Many, in fact, forgot all of the contents of their life prior to exposure. Our clients contacted us before the release of Und So Beginnt Es, and with our consultation and assistance, they’ve managed to isolate the contents for now. Only a few test subjects have been exposed, and the results are recorded in Attachment 15-661A. The subject continues to go about his daily life, oblivious to the effects of his releases. We have advised our clients to maintain an invisible quarantine of the subject to simply contain his output. If the subject was to determine that he is under surveillance, we are unsure what results would transpire. Disconcerting is the fact that investigation has been unable to verify the existence of a second entity on the record; this entity, possibly named Larvalis, may be a sort of emanation or fingerprint from the parallels. Further investigation is required.
Attachment 15-661A – List of side effects when test subject is exposed to material Und So Beggint Es. Test Subject 1 complained of a sudden decrease in motivation. The subject then proceeded to sit down in the middle of his room with his eyes closed and remained in this position for exactly 13 minutes and 13 seconds. The subject then immediately began to weep, stating that the world was far too sad a place and asking how something so terrible could be true. The subject then took off his clothing and hunched over the floor so as to obstruct direct view. After exactly 24 minutes of activity and weeping, the subject tied a noose he had fashioned from his own fabrics and attempted to choke himself until personnel intervened. The subject remains in protective custody to this day.
Test Subject 2, upon exposure to the contents of 15-661D grew violently will and began to vomit immediately. The subject vomited on the floor for exactly 45 minutes late until she had completely drained the contents of her stomach. The subject heaved for an additional 3 minutes. When the heaving finished, the subject began attempting to lap up the vomit while muttering, “Out with the bad, in with the good. Out with the bad, in with the good.” The subject choked after approximately 2 and a half minutes of this activity before fainting. After awakening, the subject had no knowledge of the prior events. Our clients maintain reconnaissance of the subject.
Test Subject 3 had no immediate reaction to the materials, but after almost an entire day of observation, the subject grew extremely agitated and clawed out his own eyes and throat before personnel could stop him. The subject did not survive the event.
Attachment 15-661S – Audio Sample of Und So Beggint Es.
