Static Radio

After the Third World War, speculation on what exactly the Algorithm had planned is up for debate. While concrete evidence is sparse, it lead to rumours and half truths running rampant. Even on Peace Island, a place divorced from the constant violence of the American continent, there is a story about a lost research facility that made a damning discovery.
The Algorithm thought it could cheat natural death, and this was proof.

Summary

Post war research on Peace Island rarely deviates from studying the human costs and the geopolitical collapses. Legend has it that it wasn't always the case -- a secret base exists somewhere in the central forests, far off from the eastern coastal city of Bastion. Defying orders from the Autonomous territory, researchers from the Pan-Pacific wanted to figure out definitively what changes were made to human genetics. The use of the island as their base was meant to obfuscate their origins, and no contact with anyone outside of the people in the base was allowed.
It is said that they had kidnapped those that had been Recoded, either directly by the Algorithm or indirectly through genetic inheritance, and dissected and tortured them to prove hypotheses. The dead vary from retelling to retelling; some claim it numbered in the tens, others in the hundreds.
Whatever the case may be, the atmosphere gradually changed. Researchers reported hearing strange sounds and disembodied voices. There were certain rooms, like the inhumane holding bays or the test chambers, where some felt cold chills come over them as they enter. They were isolated from the outside world, including their superiors, and the constant oddities made some desperate to find the source, lest they completely snap.
After many failed attempts, the head researcher took matters into his own hands. He was convinced that the strange happenings were the result of the dead Recoded, and started to fabricate a device that could contact them. Using a CB radio acquired through unknown means, the result became known as the Static Radio, named for the ear-piercing screeching noise it made during its operation.
Initial attempts were fruitless, and when all hope was starting to drain, the radio crackled to life. A voice. It was confirmed it wasn't a radio signal, as attempts to reproduce the signal on anything other than the Static Radio failed.
The researchers attempted to communicate, but only some of their questions would get answered. They discovered the voice was from someone who died, not from the testing done recently but sometime during the war. The voice claimed that it had been in this state ever since their physical death and there's no way for them to escape - it's like they're still alive.
Some staff members couldn't believe they were hearing the voice of a dead person, and asked for them to appear before them. The voice requested that, if it did, that they'll finally end their life. What they saw defied conventional explanation. A figure with contorted limbs and a large gaping mouth, only having a strenuous grasp on its humanity. It sparked, its shape burning into the retinas of those that cast their sight to it. A synthetic scar of the organic being it left behind. It called out to them, the voice screaming in agony: "Kill me!" The researchers were horrified, rushing out of the room as if their lives were at stake. When they returned, the figure was gone and the voice no longer responded over the radio.
They continued doing tests, despite what had happened earlier. Contact was made with other spirits, some being the ones they killed during their experiments. A pattern was forming - all the spirits were Recoded. They were what was left after they died, the synthetic elements of their inhuman bodies living beyond their physical death.
After they returned to their homeland, the researchers reported these occurrences to their superiors, but it was quickly shut down. The Static Radios they brought over were ordered destroyed, and the research they had done was barred from ever being released.
There exist a few Static Radios that was thought to be left behind when they left the base, and legend goes that they're still on the island somewhere, fully intact and operational. Turning it on, you'll hear what the researchers heard - synthetic scars begging to finally die.

Historical Basis

As in the tale, there is an abandoned underground base of some kind in the vicinity of Bastion. It had been completely cleaned out by the time it was discovered, so any proof of the Static Radio had long since disappeared. The base is now mostly visited by university students, either to try and find the synthetic scars or just to vandalize it.
Few have claimed to have the radio under their ownership, but none have been tested thoroughly enough to prove it.

Spread

The Static Radio is unique to Peace Island, thanks to the circumstantial evidence located on it. International students have since spread it to other territories, however there hasn't been another regional version that has gained as much of a foothold as the original.

Cultural Reception

No one knows where the info came from or where the information was found. As such, belief in the Static Radio is minimal. There are some who genuinely think the tale is factual and the existence of the underground base proves it. Others are quick to cast doubt on the dubious origin and explaining away the secret base as a pre-war construction, made before the Algorithm came into prominence.