AMF Kiryu Squadron Declassified Correspondence #1: Yokohama Field Director's Report to AMF, January 2002
Log: 4/01/2002
Operation: "Wolfram"
Yokohama Field Supervisor, [REDACTED] reporting to AMF Wolfram Committee, Tokyo.
Operations nearing completion, and, I am happy to report, ahead of schedule despite [REDACTED] and the resulting delays. The bones' electromagnetic properties made locating the scattered remains surprisingly simple, and we have so far managed to recover the complete (and articulated!) material of the left arm and tail, along with partial material from the ribcage and lower spinal column, and an assortment of disarticulated dorsal fins. The material of the hips and legs is articulated, and was attached to the tail when it was located. The large piece was split in half to facilitate the salvage operations, and operations to recover the second piece are underway even as I write this. The remainder of the skeleton has been located, except for the lower portion of the right arm, which seems to have been pushed deep into the bay's sediment by the explosion. Our crews are standing by to begin operations to salvage the remainder of the ribcage, followed by the upper spinal column, skull, and mandible, as soon as this largest piece has been recovered.
The decomposition patterns of the remains seem to be rather peculiar, though I am no expert on the decomposition of kaiju corpses. The dermal, fatty, and muscular tissue all seem to be decomposing at a remarkably high rate, especially given the cold weather. Despite the tissue degradation, almost no disarticulation has yet been observed that cannot be attributed to the explosion. In fact, according to [REDACTED], the overall disarticulation is significantly less than what would be expected fog oven the force of the explosion; although severely reduced in size, all muscles, ligaments, and bones appear to remain anchored to their positions, rather than detaching as normally occurs during decomposition. The bones in particular appear to be remarkably well-preserved, with not a single large fracture yet detected throughout all the bones so far recovered. We have yet to screen them for smaller fractures. With the exception of the heart, all other internal organs have completely dissolved. The heart can still be detected using the same means that the bones are located by, and sonic feedback makes it clear that it is still beating, though we believe this is simply the residual action of the cardiac muscles, held in place by the same regenerative bodies that hold the remainder of the muscles in place. The veins, blood, and nerves have also apparently dissolved similarly, and the unidentified organic fluid deposited in the spaces they once occupied has proved highly radioactive, and several of our salvage crewmen show symptoms of radiation sickness despite their protective suits. Luckily the fluid drains readily from the remains as they are dredged up and has yet to lose a threat to any of our above-ground crew, though we have been able to collect samples for analysis. The stench, however, is more difficult to avoid. Even higher levels of radioactivity have been detected in the vicinity of the heart, luckily some distance away from the remainder of the corpse, suggesting that it too is undergoing a similar decomposition and should disappear entirely very soon, though [REDACTED] of MONARCH suggests that this is not the case, and I am inclined to believe him. I have had to make several calls to his office for advisory purposes already and I would like to request permission to [REDACTED] for the project.
The decomposing corpse has released a massive amount of nutrients into the water. Algae blooms have been reported as far away as Tokai, and every day we get reports of extreme growth of new, mutated plant species all across Tokyo Bay. We have yet to decide on a recommended course of action regarding these new species. Most appear to be harmless so far. We would prefer not to take our chances, however; another Biollante is the last thing we need at the moment. In any case, I'm sure that [REDACTED] will have a field day studying how the ecosystem is affected by the natural decomposition of these remains, without the blight of the Oxygen Destroyer to stall them.
We predict that, barring further delays, we will have the complete skeleton, with the exception of the right arm, completely salvaged and ready for transport by February 10. We believe that we can locate the right arm, but we do not know how much excavation it will take to recover it once it is found. Hopefully we can have it out of the ground before the end of March.
AMF Wolfram Committee:
Acknowledged. Your request to [REDACTED] is denied. Upon receiving this correspondence you are to begin preparations to ship the remains you have recovered so far to [REDACTED] via [REDACTED]. Further remains will be transported similarly upon their recovery. Maintain the current quarantine for twenty-four months after the final pieces of the skeleton is salvaged, and if any more are discovered, extend the quarantine similarly. Report to [REDACTED] for further instructions.
