GRU-P Test
PROJECT "FLY AGARIC" DIVISION "P" DEPARTMENT III
APPROVED 21.IX.1967 PRINTOUT NR: 1
SIGNED ................................................ CC
DEPARTMENT HEAD III-P-9-GRU D.NR: 257-III-1973

PROJECT TARGET: To develop and test a stealth pseudo-explosive device utilizing OSI "FLY AGARIC" as payload.
PROJECT HEAD: Igor S. Petlyar к.т.н.
30.IV.1972 SUCCESSFUL

DETAIL: OSI "FLY AGARIC" is the designation of a subspecies of Fomes fomentarius, provisionally designated Fomes fomentarius copiosus. The appearance, habitat and nutrition of F. fomentarius copiosus resembles that of its superspecies, and sample combustion analysis shows no differences in composition.

F. fomentarius copiosus has been designated object of special interest due to abnormal traits associated with the growth and physical properties of its fruit body.

The mycelium of F. fomentarius copiosus does not appear to penetrate significantly into the host, with very limited saprotrophic activity; the characteristic areas of decomposing wood demarcated by pseudosclerotic layers are all but absent. Long-term studies of specimens on host wood segments in a sealed chamber have shown that there is net mass gain as the specimens' fruit bodies grow and mature; this suggests the specimen obtains nutrients from elsewhere.

In addition, the fruit body of F. fomentarius copiosus exhibits atomism. An attempt to remove a section thereof results in no change to the volume or mass of the fruit body, however, a segment identical to that of a similarly cut control sample of F. fomentarius is produced, independant of the direction of the cut. This property is not preserved in the removed segment.

Setting fire to a fruit body causes it to combust until extinguished, while spontaneously increasing in mass and volume at a rate of cca. 20g/hour, with ash and fragments detaching. No spontaneous upper limit was observed as of now, with longest experiment running for three (3) months and achieving a combined debris mass of ~40kg

See Appendix A for data on occurence. The species appears endemic to forests in the Mordovian ASSR.

Proposed uses:
(i) Cheap supply of fuel - REJECTED. High water content and resistance of fruit bodies to dessication; segments can be processed as normal but limited economic value due to labour requirements.
(ii) Felt production - APPROVED - cheap and expedient material collection. Comrade I. Kalugin commended; by estimate, could help to exceed felt production targets by 135%. Test run of felt to be produced and thoroughly tested by 01. I. 1967.

INCIDENT SUMMARY DIVISION "P" DEPARTMENT II
23.VI.1966 D.NR: 32-II-1966
ATTACHED TO DOCUMENT 27-III-1966 Page {$page} of {$pages}

On 19.VI.1966, a conflagration took place in Unit II of the Wood Processing Plant of 28th October near [REDACTED], Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Dispatched fire brigade found the premises to contain extensive amounts (app. 2000 cu. m.) of unknown matter, which apparently caused structural damage resulting in short-circuit of feed leads leading to fire.

Embedded GRU-P agent "KOLYA" was alerted, and requested ARC from local command. Procured unburnt samples were shown to be the remains of tissues of Fomus fomentarius fruit bodies. Investigation pending.

INTERVIEW LOG DIVISION "P" DEPARTMENT II
24.VI.1966 D.NR: 32-III-1966
ATTACHED TO DOCUMENT 27-III-1966 Page 1 of 2

Attached is the transcript of interview of Ivan V. Fedorov, one of the workers at the Wood Processing Plant of 28th October where incident 32-II-1966 took place. Interviewer is agent "ROMANOV" posing as operative of the local militia office inspecting potential sabotage attempt

R: Honor to work, comrade. Have a moment?
IVF: Go talk to Igor, I'm on br-
R: I'm afraid not. Sergeant Petrovsky, district militia office. Show me your papers.
IVF: Here…
R: Ivan Vasilievic Fedorov, is it? Alright, comrade Fedorov. It says here you were an operator on the third section. You are aware there's been a fire at your workplace two days ago?
IVF: If this is why… I didn't do anything! I was in the pub the evening, just ask Sergej, Misha or Leonid. And then went home, my wife can-
R: Calm down, comrade. We haven't accused you of anything. And I'll be frank with you, we don't suspect the factory staff - there's a few ideas out there as to how the accident came about, and all I'm here to do is to clear up a couple details. So, let's get this over with, eh?
IVF: Alright.
R: Excellent. Now, your documents say 'operator' but that's a wide term. What exactly is it that you do here?
IVF: I'm… I run the cutter.
R: What cutter? Tell me in detail.
IVF: Well, it's the cutter. You stuff in a trunk, it gets cut into planks, they get bathed, shaped, then out to dry. I'm the one who keeps it fed and cutting at the right rate and all that.
R: Bathed?
IVF: Yeah. It's some stuff that prevents the wood from going foul. Impregnation, that's the fancy name for it. See, we're first class, our planks go for floors and cupboards and all that. Furniture.
R: Alright. Now, for the classic. Did you notice anything unusual during the last shift?
IVF: Not really. It all went swimmingly, given the crap they trucked to us. I swear, comrade, they want us to plait a whip from shit, when you look at the targets and material.
R: Who does?
IVF: Everyone. But this is the lumber folks' fault. Half the trunks they sent us were obviously trushy, all hiding under the nice ones. The shit is supposed to go for firewood. So when we- uh.
R: Go on.
IVF: Well…
R: Listen, I won't pull this out from you like threads from a felt blanket. I'll assume you didn't bother to reject the crap they sent you, or notify your boss. I don't care - we're not workplace malpractice committee. Now, carry on and cut the crap.
IVF: Yeah, you got it. See, if we did anything it'd fuck up with our factory trying to get awards for exceeding targets - and our bonuses would go to hell. So we cut it anyways and hoped nobody will notice the discoloration anytime soon, or if they do, they'll keep hush about it. After all, it's not our fault - they can go cry at the suppliers.

INTERVIEW LOG DIVISION "P" DEPARTMENT II
24.VI.1966 D.NR: 32-III-1966
ATTACHED TO DOCUMENT 27-III-1966 Page 2 of 2

R: I suppose.
IVF: But, this is where it gets interesting! A couple of us were kinda nervous about it, and went to inspect the planks coming out - see there's a couple things you can do to make such damage a bit less obvious. But, the wood came out fine. I wouldn't have believed by looking at the bark, but the trush hasn't eaten through at all, no lines good colour, good hardness, all! So on paper it was all fine - nobody could blame us for pushing forwards wood that looks alright by the spec.
R: I see. Anything else you noticed?
IVF: Not really. I was happy enough how we put one over the fuckers, then went to have a couple drinks to celebrate after the shift… and after in the morning, I heard there was a fire overnight.
R: Thank you comrade, that will be all. I might show up again for you to sign a statement, but, until then.
Further investigation confirmed trees from delivery to be infested with Fomus fomentarius copiosus. File attached to OSI "FLY AGARIC" file alongside with incident report.

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