(File 22) The Clockwork Soldiers – “The Toy Platoon”

SUBJECT DESIGNATION: The Clockwork Soldiers – “The Toy Platoon”

CLASS: Type II Animated Constructs (Mechanical / Bound Spirit Entities)

CONTAINMENT STATUS: Secured within Portrait Frame #019, “March of the Damned”

THREAT LEVEL: Moderate (Coordinated / Mechanical Hostility)

IDENTIFICATION

Apparent Age: N/A (Animated Toys; Souls Estimated Age Range: 30–40 Years at Time of Binding)

Gender: Presumed Male (Based on voice imprints recorded during manifestation)

Post-Mortem Appearance: Three tin toy soldiers of varying height and color, each adorned in red and gold military uniforms. Their clockwork keys constantly turn without winding, producing a faint rhythmic ticking audible up to 10 meters away. Their eyes glow with dull yellow light—possibly residual ectoplasmic energy animating their bodies.

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

The Clockwork Soldiers represent a unique category of haunting within the mansion’s walls—spirit-bound constructs, in which human consciousness has been forcibly transferred into non-organic hosts. While initially mistaken for harmless animated toys, later analysis revealed the presence of genuine human emotional signatures embedded within their brass casings.

Historical research suggests the mansion’s former owner had commissioned a toymaker known for experimental craftsmanship—rumored to dabble in occult engineering. The toymaker’s obsession with perfection and discipline led to dark experiments, in which the souls of deceased soldiers (possibly victims of war) were allegedly bound to his mechanical creations to “grant them eternal purpose.”

These animated soldiers, once objects of pride and demonstration, grew self-aware. Their eternal march turned to unrest when they realized their existence was confined to repetition without reward. Their lingering loyalty curdled into aggression toward all intruders—viewed as “invaders” upon their eternal battleground.

CAUSE OF DEATH (THEORETICAL ANALYSIS)

Primary Hypothesis: Forced Soul Transference / Spiritual Binding Ritual

The human consciousnesses animating the Clockwork Soldiers may originate from the spirits of fallen infantry, captured and bound via ritual metallurgy.

Alternatively, the toymaker may have been killed during his experiments, and his assistants’ souls bound unwillingly within the prototypes.

Secondary Hypotheses:

Workshop Fire Incident: Records indicate a fire destroyed the toymaker’s workshop shortly after the soldiers’ creation—suggesting they may have “survived” through possession of their own constructs.

Voluntary Fusion: In rare cases, spirits of the loyal dead have chosen to inhabit effigies to continue serving in death.

Regardless, the presence of emotional resonance and military discipline strongly supports the theory of conscious, intelligent entrapment rather than mere animation.

PARANORMAL CHARACTERISTICS

Behavioral Pattern: Highly regimented and territorial. Operate in synchronized formation. Often march in circles until disturbed, then enter “combat mode,” attacking perceived intruders.

Manifestation Site: Toy Chamber / Mechanical Wing (adjacent to the Twins’ Room).

Activity Cycle: Active during periods of high ambient kinetic energy—commonly triggered by loud footsteps, music, or machinery.

Notable Abilities:

Synchronized Movement: Move and attack in perfect unison, exhibiting shared consciousness.

Projectile Discharge: Emit small bursts of ectoplasmic pellets mimicking gunfire; impact capable of minor concussive force.

Mechanical Regeneration: Wounds to one soldier are often compensated by structural reinforcement from others via linked ectoplasmic streams.

Ectoplasmic Gear Binding: Can temporarily “jam” nearby machinery or electrical equipment through interference pulses.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

The Clockwork Soldiers possess fragmented cognition, reflecting disciplined yet repetitive thought loops. Their dialogue—when recorded—consists of commands, marching orders, and faint echoes of battlefield terminology. Communication attempts suggest awareness of being “constructed” and resentment toward the living, whom they perceive as undisciplined and chaotic.

Despite their aggression, they adhere to a strict code of order—never attacking unless provoked or if their “territory” (the Toy Chamber) is breached. Their marching, though monotonous, seems to provide them with stability—an anchor to their former lives as soldiers.

Their psychological deterioration manifests as auditory phenomena: distant drumbeats, rhythmic tapping, and the sound of a faint parade echoing through empty halls.

CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES

Subjects were contained following Operation LM-GH/19, during which synchronized light disruption was used to desynchronize their collective rhythm, rendering them inert. Captured with electromagnetic dampeners and transferred into Portrait Frame #019, where their movement is visually frozen mid-step.

Containment Notes:

Frame must remain in acoustically insulated storage to prevent rhythmic resonance phenomena.

Avoid exposure to ticking or percussive noises near the frame; such stimuli have been shown to reinitiate mild kinetic movement.

Personnel must maintain respectful distance—sudden gestures or “mock salutes” have been known to trigger agitation within the frame’s ectoplasmic field.

NOTES FROM PROF. E. GADD

“The precision on these fellows is remarkable—and terrifying. They still follow orders no one’s giving. I suspect the toymaker built more than toys… he built a prison of brass. Their footsteps still echo sometimes in the lab. You never forget that sound—tick, march, tick.”

— Prof. E. Gadd, Log Entry 19.01