LOOP AUTHORITY // ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT
CAUSAL HYGIENE
PRIORITY: HIGH
⚠ HIGH PRIORITY — POTENTIAL FOR MASS ECHO-ATTRACTION — CAUSAL HYGIENE DIVISION ⚠
SUBJECT: RAFFLESIA CHRONIS (THE CARRION BLOOM)
DATE: [STAMP REDACTED]
PRIORITY: HIGH — MASS ECHO-ATTRACTION RISK
STATUS: ACTIVE THREAT — CONTAINMENT ONGOING
Section 1.0 // Discovery and Identification
Rafflesia Chronis: The Carrion Bloom
Agents in the Viking Era (10th Century) report the appearance of massive, fleshy floral structures measuring up to three meters in diameter. These specimens, designated Rafflesia Chronis, are not biological plants. They are Hyper-Condensed Paradox Nodes that have taken the form of carrion flowers to exploit the Olfactory Senses of the Displaced.
Three meters in diameter. I have the photographs. They are beautiful. That is the most dangerous thing about them — they are genuinely, achingly beautiful, and they smell like wherever you most wanted to go home to. The Viking Era agents who found the first one had to be physically restrained from entering it.
Section 2.0 // The Scent of Shattering
Unlike standard carrion flowers that mimic rotting meat, the R. Chronis emits a high-frequency CTH-aerosol that Echoes perceive as the Scent of Home.
- The Olfactory Trap: To an Echo from the 21st century, the flower smells like rain on hot asphalt or a grandmother's perfume. To an Echo from the Industrial Era, it smells of coal-smoke and gin.
- The Biological Hook: This scent is a chemical representation of a Locked Memory. It triggers an immediate, involuntary SYNC response, drawing the Echo toward the center of the bloom.
Coal-smoke and gin. Rain on hot asphalt. My Origin smells like a specific bakery in 1978 Taipei that no longer exists in any accessible timeline. I have never encountered a Carrion Bloom. I am documenting this fact for the record, so that if I am later reported as having approached one, there is prior evidence that I knew better.
Section 3.0 // The Consumption Mechanism
- Pollination: The flower coats the Echo in "Mnemonic Dust" — microscopic spores of Paradox Tension.
- Digestion: The flower closes. The Echo's Emotional Mass (μ) is absorbed over 48 hours. The physical body is rejected. The "History" is kept by the flower to fuel the next bloom.
The body is rejected. The History is kept. The flower keeps the story. It ejects the person. It is eating exactly the part of you that is most you.
I have recovered three bodies from Bloom sites. They were intact. Physically perfect. Completely empty of everything that made them specific. They had faces but the faces had stopped meaning anything. I am filing this as a standard botanical threat. I do not have a better category.
Section 4.0 // Directive for Auditors
Do not approach a Carrion Bloom without a Lead-Lined Gas Mask. If you smell "Fresh Baked Bread" or "Summer Rain" in an Era where it does not belong, you are already in the kill-zone.
ACTION: Immediate Cauterization. Use high-heat Paradox Burners. We cannot allow the "Scent of the Past" to lure our agents into the Seam.
[RAFFLESIA CHRONIS REPORT // CAUSAL HYGIENE // NOTE: One lead-lined gas mask was returned damaged. The agent reported that they "briefly smelled their mother's kitchen" before the mask seal failed. The agent is currently in recovery. They are expected to make a full physical recovery. — Environmental Threat Division]
Expected to make a full physical recovery. The language is deliberate. The other kind gets filed under Spent Asset and everyone moves on.
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