(C) 1994 Origin Systems Inc.3/.C. ORRESULT#ATTRAN3cCELL1-5kCELL26WCELL37ICELL489GMAINTUINVENTORW DITEMScGSECINSTccFREEZER1DhFREEZER3m>FREEZER4SoEVACq2PARAG5ESHMES~d4ARCH AT_WESTREPAIR_  AT_EASTF.^FBTRAN@ CREDITSNyCMAINT kBIKESCn GSEC{/GSECFAIL{_GSECPASS0|GSECSECց-GSECCODEW%ORNOTESZ REACTOLOCK2qdREACT2ղHIST1GSECNOHNKKLEX4]<DANETFREEZER2{WBIKETFkLOCKk0ORLOGO AT_SOUTH cGSECCOMnORSEC AT_NORTHTEMP|GSECSCI%5CAYNANDANE1LEXPOOPSTUFF [WARNING] PROJECT AFA CASE HISTORIES [SELMAK] RESULTS: Subject took his own life shortly after recovering from Stage One of the procedure. [CAYNAN] RESULTS: A series of genetic mutations have given the subject a level of strength and endurance far beyond a biologically normal human. It has also produced the side effect of giving him a blue pigmentation. These alterations have drastically and adversely effected his sanity. [BLADE] RESULTS: Subject successfully survived the initial stages of the cybernetic surgery. [SARTA] RESULTS: After killing a technician and two guards, it was determined that subject was too focused simply on the act of killing. [NORAL] RESULTS: Experiment failure. Alterations in subject's genetic structure gave rise to a lethal mutation. [RASMER] RESULTS: Subject developed a random contagion and was immediately destroyed. [DRAGIL] RESULTS: Cellular deterioration resulting from his illness rendered him incapable of surviving gene-therapy. [FARRDAY] RESULTS: Subject genetically altered, reverted to animal-like state. [LEXXEN] RESULTS: Subject received an incompatible genetic structure. [PAGE] RESULTS: Systems overload attributed to a concussive energy discharge that was fatal to the test subject. [MARKO] RESULTS: Subject died on operating table. [STROM] RESULTS: His psychological reaction to the procedure was so extreme that it was determined that destroying him was the best available option. [HIGHILL] RESULTS: Subject died from the shock of total cybernetic rejection. [TREMNOR] RESULTS: An unexpected incompatibility with his brain implants resulted in the subject becoming lobotomized. [LANO] RESULTS: During the initial test stages it is theorized that a portion of an explosive round got jammed into the barrel of one of his internal weapons. The next round fired impacted upon it and both shells detonated. [DODESKADEN] RESULTS: Subject died on operating table. [TRUSTIC] RESULTS: Either there is an undetected malfunction in the prosthetic implants installed in this subject or there is a synaptic disability within the subject rendering him unable to properly utilize them. [ESKABERA] RESULTS: Adverse reaction to genetic cleansing agent. [MONIK] RESULTS: Subject lapsed into catatonia. [WARNA] RESULTS: Subject considered a minor success. Died in training exercise fighting against subject now stored in Freezer Two of the Cryo Room. [SOO] RESULTS: Subject deemed too dangerous to be controlled. [DANE] RESULTS: --- [RATHMAN] RESULTS: Subject ultimately deemed physiologically inappropriate for ABA project. [ONE] RESULTS: Subject died shortly after receiving cybernetic implants. [SIDIG] RESULTS: Substance created was toxic to a level that was fatal to the subject. [LEX] RESULTS: Subject Survived Procedure. Subject designated AP-127, and moved to Security Cell 3 for Recovery. [] PRELIMINARY TRANSLATION OF WRITING IN NON-RETICULUM LANGUAGES: [EAST_WALL] EAST WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: This site is the planetary headquarters for astronomical observation. There is a gravitational ring that runs beneath the circumference of the planet. This can be used to accelerate extraplanetary craft to speeds that would enable them to escape our gravitational pull and eventually one day to reach other solar systems. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: //They used to look at the sky and launch spaceships from here.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED IN THE WALL AND IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: In building this place we honor a Learner who came before us- a Learner whose thoughts and ideas were more precious than [no relative equivalent for translation] and has left us with a great and mighty foundation to build upon. He was the First Master Learner, whom we know by the name of Gen. It was Gen who revealed the secrets of the power of the center of the world. It was Gen who fettered this power and made it a tool with which to build a civilization. Our civilization has covered the surface of our world and has reached out to the stars utilizing the creations of Gen's mind. Thanks to Gen no Learner shall ever know the heavy burden of work, leaving the mind free to create. It is the ancient Gen who sleeps at the heart of this place, until such time as he shall awaken to bestow an even greater gift upon our race. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 115,000 YEARS OLD: //We, the Workers and the Soldiers of the Phyxx are denied by our station of knowing many of the ways in which Gen made the existence of our race better. But we who are workers and soldiers are of a giving nature, and we say praise be to him anyway.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: For safety reasons visitors are instructed to disengage their personal gravity controls while inside the facility. Platforms or other vehicles passing within [no relative distance comparison for translation] of this facility may experience a drastic alteration in their gravitational fields, making them unsafe. Due to the heavier gravitational force Learners must not enter the Soldier development levels once their personal gravity controls have been switched off. Collective meeting and relaxation areas have been provided at variant gravitational levels for your convenience. There is an operational tubeway station here to facilitate travel from one area to another. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: //Turn off your gravity before going in or you will hurt yourself. Do not try flying any kind of ship around here or you could crash. Learners cannot enter areas where we can go without having their low gravity on or it will kill them. Things are lighter in some rooms and heavier in others. You can go to a place where things are as heavy as you want them to be. You can get to other places from here.// [WEST_WALL] WEST WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE, AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: In building this place we honor a Learner who came before us. A Learner whose thoughts and ideas were more precious than [no relative equivalent for translation] and has left us with a great and mighty foundation to build upon. He was the Second Master Learner whom we know by the name of Vid. It was Vid who revealed the secrets that enabled us to reconstruct our physical bodies. It was Vid who sensibly divided the classes of the Phyxx race into Leader/Learner and Worker/Soldier. Guided by the wisdom of Vid, our civilization has achieved an order and a stability that has enabled it to achieve many great things. Thanks to the gifts of Vid the Learner and the Worker both know their respected place and can be content in fulfilling their role in our society. It is the ancient Vid who is entombed beneath the heart of this place, so that his memory will live for now and all time. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 100,000 YEARS OLD: //We, the Soldiers and now the Leaders of the Phyxx owe not only our creation but our former position within our society to the Great Learner Vid. After some brief reflection upon our former existence and position, we have decided that it is most unfortunate that Vid has already died. There are many of us who would have considered it a great honor and a pleasure to have personally escorted Great Learner Vid to the realm of death.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: The Leader/Soldiers who command this facility have instructed me to write this sign in our language. By entering this facility we Learners all automatically assume the following responsibilities: We Learners cannot disobey the direct order of a Leader/Soldier. Whenever asked we Learners must explain or facilitate the comprehension of any and all Leader/Soldiers in situations requiring technical knowledge, on demand. No more than two of us Learners may gather together to speak to each other at any given time. We Learners are subject to physical and electronic search whenever entering or leaving the facility. Failure to follow any of these rules may result in punishment by physical beating, incarceration or death depending upon the circumstances. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 105,000 YEARS OLD: //If you ask a Learner a question and you do not get the answer you want, or if they talk in a way that is hard to understand, or do strange things, or if you feel that you cannot trust them, or if they will not let you look at their things, feel free to do whatever you want to them.// [SOUTH_WALL] SOUTH WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: Once this place was the sight of Northern City. It was a beautiful paradise that floated above the ground where Leader/Learners and Worker/Soldiers lived and worked together in peace. This was before the Age of Drastic Upheaval. Northern City was destroyed during the Fourteenth Territorial War when the housing of its gravitational reprocesses was sabotaged. All twenty thousand of its citizens were killed. This was to retaliate against the Leader/Learner Hozg who ordered his Worker/Soldiers to attack Oceanic City over a philosophical conflict with a Leader/Learner there. By the end of the Fourteenth Territorial War 87,000 Soldier/Workers and 11 Leader/Learners were killed. The community known as the Second Northern City was constructed at the place where Northern City once was, though the new city was subterranean (as has been the custom since the Age of Drastic Upheaval). Eventually, this facility grew to such a size that it appropriated much of the area of Second Northern City. Now that the world population has decreased to such a small number and the wars that threaten to annihilate our people continue, we, the last of the Soldiers and Learners of New Northern City place ourselves into hibernation. It is our hope that we shall awaken in a future age where non-violent social order is possible. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: //Northern City used to be in the sky above this place. It was much nicer than this city back during the time before the Leader/Learners became dictatorial. A Leader/Learner from old Oceanic City made it fall down because one of our Leader/Learners sent a bunch of our ancestors to attack him after he said he did not like a piece of artwork our Leader/Learner had made. By the time they had settled their dispute they had sent a whole lot of us to kill each other. A few other Leader/Learners died, but not nearly enough of them. After the time when the Worker/Soldiers decided that Learners could not be Leaders anymore they built a new Northern City here. It is not nearly as nice as the old city because they put it underground. At least no one can make this city fall down. Few people came to live here after it was first completed so lots of the city was turned over to workers who run this place. Now that almost everyone is dead, and most of those who are still alive are trying to kill each other we have decided to wait it out in the dream.// [] [] [] OCCUPANT: ID# BX-3497 [] [] SPECIES: HOMO SAPIENS [] ORIGIN: DAEDALUS BASE - SECURITY [] PROJECT: ABA [] ____CARE____ [] * Inject legs with lubricant AE-4 twice daily [] * Feed meat products only [] * Precede any entry with stun blast [] * Stay sharp - subject is trained in combat [] [] ORDERED BY: ID# MC-002 [] DR. A. MASTABA [] [] [] OCCUPANT: UNKNOWN [] [] SPECIES: UNKNOWN [] ORIGIN: DIG SITE ROOM THREE [] PROJECT: ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTATION [] ____CARE____ [] * Keep under armed guard 24 hours [] * Alert senior officers of all changes [] * Retract beams only for guard change [] * If escape occurs, apprehend at any cost [] [] ORDERED BY: ID# MS-24310 [] DR. E. ESCHER [] [] [] OCCUPANT: ID# AP-127 [] [] SPECIES: HOMO SAPIENS [] ORIGIN: CLASSIFIED [] PROJECT: ABA [] ____CARE____ [] * Feed with formula 4-A three times daily [] * Six injections serum 33 four times daily [] * Enforce rest with sedation if needed [] * Restrain subject's left arm prior to entry [] [] ORDERED BY: MC-0002 [] DR. A. MASTABA [] [] [] OCCUPANT: ID# AP-128 [] [] SPECIES: HOMO SAPIENS [] ORIGIN: CLASSIFIED [] PROJECT: ABA [] ____CARE____ [] * Feed with formula 4-A three times daily [] * Subject to undergo final transformation [] * New instructions to be posted after [] surgery is completed [] [] ORDERED BY: MC-0002 [] DR. A. MASTABA [A] d1895-0000 REPORT: Corridor to Main airlock. Ventilation system problem. Temperature rising above normal environmental range. Air circulator inoperative. [A] d1895-0021 RESPONSE: Air circulator clogged by foreign substance. Substance removed by repair bot. Overheated motor of air circulator replaced. Air circulator reactivated. Temperature returning to normal. [A] d1895-0034 REPORT: Security Level, Corridor. Patrol robot #089 needs sensor replacement. [A] d1895-0058 RESPONSE: Only SPs available all 800's or older. Limited viewing distance, impaired intruder detection, 36 hour refit. [A] d1895-0153 REPORT: Security Level, Cryo Room. Cryogenics Fluid Tank needs refilling. [A] d1895-0159 RESPONSE: Cryogenic Fluid Tanks refilled. [A] d1895-0236 REPORT: Tower. Robot #113 has a bad collision detector. [A] d1895-0248 RESPONSE: Collision detector replaced. [A] d1895-0343 REPORT: Report from Tunnel Basin: Digging Machine destroyed by large animal. [A] d1895-0344 RESPONSE: Request logged for replacement. [A] d1895-0403 REPORT: Support Level, Barracks. Battery discharge in maintenance robot. [A] d1895-0413 RESPONSE: Electrical short in lower level mechanics repaired. Damaged battery swapped out with freshly charged one by repair bot. [A] d1895-0532 REPORT: Control Level, Operating Room. One of the restraints on the examination table has been broken. [A] d1895-0540 RESPONSE: Examination table restraint repaired. [A] d1895-0647 REPORT: Prisoner Cell 2 (ID Unknown, found in excavation) escaped cell. [A] d1895-0647 RESPONSE: Escape Alert declared. Cellblock doors sealed. [A] d1895-0648 REPORT: Systems damage: electrical short in flooring subsystems. Many subsystems nominal. Maintenance sensor data inaccurate, many sensors off-line. [A] d1895-0650 RESPONSE: Damage being reported too fast to be repaired by the robots. [A] d1895-0651 CONTROL: Reactor Room, dampen reactor immediately. Power down! -Mert [A] d1895-0651 REPORT: Systems damage: Cooling Tank penetrated, reactor cooling systems rendered inoperative. Prisoner Cell 2 detected in tanks. [A] d1895-0653 RESPONSE: Escaped prisoner has dug from his cell down into the water tanks. [A] d1895-0654 CONTROL: Reactor Room reports that the reaction coolant system is not responding. -Eng [A] d1895-0654 REPORT: All Reactor cooling systems negative. Temperature of Reactor rapidly increasing. [A] d1895-0654 RESPONSE: Class 1 Reactor Emergency Alert declared. Switching to emergency power supply and attempting to take reactor off line. Negative response. [A] d1895-0655 CONTROL: The Reactor Control Redundancy Systems have been knocked out by a power surge. -Tayke [A] d1895-0655 CONTROL: All Team Three Personnel to the Control Room. Hardsuit up and proceed to the Reactor Room. -Amdant [A] d1895-0655 REPORT: Systems damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by tremor. [A] d1895-0656 RESPONSE: Class 2 tremor detected. Origin unknown. If tremors continue it could threaten the structural integrity of the base. [A] d1895-0656 CONTROL: Our system's been flooded with automated damage reports. Shutting auto-maintenance system off. -Amdant [A] d1895-0658 REPORT: Systems damage: Reactor breached, toxic dose radiation leakage penetrated Support Level, temperature of plasma field reached danger level. [A] d1895-0658 RESPONSE: The radiation leakage into the Support Level will kill all occupants within one hour unless leak is sealed. [A] d1895-0658 CONTROL: Evacuate the Support Level immediately. -Mert [A] d1895-0710 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by second tremor. [A] d1895-0711 CONTROL: Structural damage is preventing the orderly evacuation of the Support Level. The elevator tubeway is jammed. -Eng [A] d1895-0711 REPORT: System damage: Lighting system for corridor leading to Main Airlock inoperative. Power to support level out. [A] d1895-0712 CONTROL: As long as the power is out in the Main Airlock Corridor we can't do anything to clear out the elevator tubeway. -Tayke [A] d1895-0717 REPORT: Radiation leak intensifying in Support Level. Escapee detected in Reactor Room. [A] d1895-0717 RESPONSE: Lower levels automatically sealed to prevent further radioactive contamination. [A] d1895-0719 CONTROL: Team Three proceeding to confront escaped prisoner in Reactor Room. -Mert [A] d1895-0720 REPORT: Reactor temperature increasing. All secondary shut off systems failed. [A] d1895-0720 RESPONSE: Class 2 Reactor Emergency Alert declared. [A] d1895-0721 CONTROL: All Security Level personnel, hold your posts. -Amdant [A] d1895-0725 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by third tremor. [A] d1895-0726 RESPONSE: According to sensor readings the origin of the tremors determined to be result of uncontrolled reaction. Temperature of plasma field exceeded level of normal safe shutdown procedures. [A] d1895-0727 CONTROL: The reactor's never been this hot before. We don't know how she'll hold up. -Eng [A] The way this radiation is building, the steam will eventually be carrying it up into the Security Level. We'd better get our men out of there now. -Tayke [A] d1895-0727 REPORT: All non-essential posts from Control Room and Guard Room evacuated. [A] d1895-0728 RESPONSE: Automated security systems for Cellblock activated. All non-essential subsystems off. Guard room door sealed. [A] d1895-0728 CONTROL: All Team Three personnel eliminated. No survivors. -Amdant [A] d1895-0729 REPORT: Subsystems monitor from Support Level utilized. Security Code breach: user attempting to override the seal of Support Level. [A] d1895-0731 RESPONSE: Support Level subsystems terminal connection to central computer severed from Control Room main monitor. [A] d1895-0731 CONTROL: It's too late to do anything for them. They're all already dead. -Mert [A] d1895-0734 REPORT: All surviving non-essential personnel to evac base via Dropship 1 and park in orbit awaiting further instructions. [A] d1895-0735 CONTROL: Mastaba is staying to finish his surgical operation with a handful of guards for protection. He has ordered all Control Room personnel to abandon their posts and evacuate. -Tayke [A] d1895-0740 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by fourth tremor. [A] d1895-0742 REPORT: Class 3 Reactor Emergency declared. [A] d1895-0744 REPORT: Evacuation dropship liftoff. [A] d1895-0755 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by fifth tremor. [A] d1895-0758 REPORT: Sensor reading: Radiation leakage into lower levels reached fatal levels. [A] d1895-0759 REPORT: Sensor reading: Results of tremors have rendered lower level structurally unsound and impassable. [A] d1895-0810 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems damaged throughout base by sixth tremor. [C1REP] %time% REPORT: System damage: Short in force bar system on Cell 1 of Cellblock. [C2REP] %time% REPORT: System damage: Malfunction in lighting system of Cell 2. [C3REP] %time% REPORT: System damage: Short in force bar system on Cell 3 of Cellblock. [C4REP] %time% REPORT: Cellblock doors breached. [ALBAT] Alien Power Source [BLOCK] Alien Cube [CAYLOG] Caynan's Logbook [CNTROLER] Controller [DANEBAT] Dane's Battery [DANELOG] Dane's Logbook [FLUTE] Flute [FORK] Fork [KEY] Alien Talisman [KEYDVICE] Key Device [LEXLOG] Logbook [LOGA] Guard's Logbook [LOGB] Marine's Logbook [MEAT] Meat [MEDICAID] Healing Device [ZEDICAID] Healing Device [MONBAT] Standard Battery [PHOTO] Photo [REFLECT] Reflective Cube [SCANNER] Alien Language Translator [WTALKY] Walkie-talkie [ESCHERLOG] Dr. Escher's Logbook [ALBAT] Internal power supply based upon chemical substance of unknown origin. Exhibits medium radiation, apx. 43rkj. Sufficient power to run a small city, or a Beta class military destroyer. Maximum Storage Capacity: 500 eu. [BLOCK] Cube of uncertain origin. Composed of inert cesium and unidentifiable liquid alloy. Inscribed with unusual characters. Exhibits mild radiation, apx. 8rkj. No Other Information. [CAYLOG] Electronic notebook. Standard non-customized issue. Subject name: CAYNAN [CNTROLER] Hand-held Electronic Device, non-functional. Use: CLASSIFIED. Internal Specifications: CLASSIFIED. Unit has sustained permanent damage from some kind of crushing force. [DANEBAT] Standard neutronium based internal power supply. Storage system modified with unidentified elements. Exhibits very mild radiation, apx. 5rkj. Maximum Storage Capacity: 100 eu. [DANELOG] Electronic notebook. Standard non-customized issue. Subject name: DANE [FLUTE] Hollow perforated metallic cylinder. Primary usage: musical instrument. Specific category: Flute. [FORK] Eating utensil: Fork. Composition: Common steel alloy. Weight 8rg. Utensil is unsanitary. [KEY] Item composed of highly conductive selenium and unknown substance. Ornately shaped with rounded edges. Weight 9rg. Exhibits mild radiation, apx. 5rkj. [KEYDVICE] Standard Military Issue Internal Systems Security Code Transmitter: Over 3,000,000,000 possible settings. [LEXLOG] Electronic notebook. Standard non-customized issue. Subject name: Not recorded [LOGA] Electronic notebook. Standard mondite guard issue. [LOGB] Electronic notebook. Standard marine issue. [MEAT] Foodstuff. Dried meat, approximately 73 hours old. Weight 27rg. Sample exhibits signs of severe spoilage. [MEDICAID] Medicine: For External Use Only. Genoxitin: painkiller, antiseptic, immune system supplement, metabolic stimulant. Container designed to hold a maximum of 5 doses. [ZEDICAID] Medicine: For External Use Only. Genoxitin: painkiller, antiseptic, immune system supplement, metabolic stimulant. Container designed to hold a maximum of 5 doses. [MONBAT] Standard neutronium based internal power supply. Storage system modified with unidentified elements. Exhibits very mild radiation, apx. 5rkj. Maximum Storage Capacity: 100 eu. [PHOTO] Printed 2D reproduction of 3D recorded visual image. Subject: human female, approximately 21 years old. Identity unknown. [REFLECT] Unusual solid cube. Surface composition cannot be evaluated due to reflective field surrounding cube. Hyper-phasal dispersal pattern emanating from interior. Exhibits mild radiation, 20rkj. [SCANNER] Standard Archeological Field Kit Issue: Scribtronics Multilingual Model 3700 Linguistics Analysis Software Package player with built-in optical sensor and internal recorder. [WTALKY] Walkie-talkie: Communications device. The transmitter appears to be broken. Receiver fully operational. Single-band tuned to receive at frequency 17. Fully charged. [ESCHERLOG] Electronic notebook. Standard non-customized issue. Subject name: ESCHER Enter Security Access Code: [] OCCUPANT: Engineered species prototype. [] SPECIES: Cyberaptor. [] ORIGIN: Cloning, genetic alteration and accelerated cell growth of the DNA from a species of reptile found on the northern plains of this planet. This initial organism was combined with a full package of cybernetic enhancements. [] PROJECT: ABA offshoot. [] ORDERED BY: DR. A. MASTABA [] NOTES: The Cyberaptor is being kept frozen because it is too difficult to control. It killed and ate Guards #74927 Tavish and #68304 Mobarik when its daily feeding was late. It also succeeded in breaking free on one occasion when it killed and ate another experimental test subject- a regenerative plant creature. Despite a substantial quantity of plant matter continuing to regenerate itself inside its digestive tract (thereby sating its hunger) the Cyberaptor still exhibited violent and aggressive behavior. It apparently kills not merely for food, but for the simple visceral experience of killing. [] SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: The Cyberaptor should be kept in cold storage until such time as the base is equipped with adequate facilities to study it properly. [] OCCUPANT: The last occupant of this freezer unit has thawed and escaped. Engineered species prototype. [] SPECIES: Daedalus Sapiens. A carrion eater. [] ORIGIN: Cloning, genetic alteration and accelerated cell growth of the DNA from a species of insect found on the southern hemisphere of this planet combined with human DNA. [] PROJECT: ABA offshoot. [] ORDERED BY: Dr. A. Mastaba. [] NOTES: Of three originally created this is the last remaining one. This experiment was declared a failure because it has a heavy aversion to bright light. Also, it is always voraciously hungry. The metabolism of this subject is quite astounding. It processes food at a rapid pace and the full limits of its growth potential have not yet been reached. One curious aspect of this organism is its reproductive system. It is not only capable of reproducing very rapidly, but also through asexual means. Within less than forty-eight hours time the three original subjects had become nineteen. Once again we succeeded in producing a specimen that proved to overwhelm the facilities of the installation and it shall be left to another time and place before it can be studied further. [] SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Subject should remain in cold storage. [] OCCUPANT: A genetic hybrid of a previously unclassified species. [] SPECIES: An insectoid creature. [] ORIGIN: Daedalus. [] PROJECT: ABA Project. [] ORDERED BY: Dr. A. Mastaba. [] NOTES: The subject's skin is coated with a highly potent toxin. Although many animal species of Daedalus appear to be immune, toxin is lethal to all humans exposed to it within seconds. Subject's blood contains a heavier concentration of this toxin. It also spits toxin to defend itself. Subject terminated. [] SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Keep subject frozen and avoid handling at all costs. Status: Emergency Situation: Class Three Reactor Alert in effect. Procedure: All personnel must obtain a hardsuit and proceed in an orderly fashion out to the landing platform. All non-essential personnel have been evacuated to the Chelios, designated Dropship #2. Main Systems: All main systems switched to full automatic, self-diagnostic and self-regulatory. Sub-Systems: Emergency generators in Operating Room activated. All other sub-systems off-line. Non-Essentials: All non-essential systems shut off. Independent Systems: Forklift Bot in Control Room still operating on internal power supply. Override: All other overrides below Command 1 Level codes rescinded. The following is the 1985th installment of a 9000 day collection of the wisdom of the Third Mondite Prime Paragon, Soolamesh Astradraya Namdangmaren. The Prime Paragon is the living embodiment of the Mondite ideal. Soolamesh Astradraya Namdangmaren lives a life of seclusion where he devotes all of his time to meditation and ponders the ever-deepening riddle of human and technological existence. The thoughts and actions of the Prime Paragon are always being continuously recorded and distributed wherever human societies exist so that his followers may benefit from his unique and enlightening insight. This catalogue of the words of the Prime Paragon provides a daily thoughtful observation. d1861: Many years ago I saw the vision. It was clear and so real that its power obliterated everything else before my eyes. It began with one great ring. Somehow I knew that this ring represented all of human life, as it now exists, or up until recently existed. Then another great ring appeared above it. It represented a perfection that was so permanent and absolute that there was no imaginable human equivalent. It wasn't a static form of perfection, but one that was eternally improving and expanding- a perfection found only in machinery, which is continuously being upgraded, modified and perfected. Just looking at the image of these two rings, I could tell that there was something missing. Something else needed to be added to complete the picture. Before my mind even grasped the comprehension of it, a third ring appeared- a circle that came from the center, that entwined and connected the other two circles together. The truth of it burned as bright as the sun. From that central circle the Mondite movement was born. d1862: Before the beginning there was nothing, and then from nothing came substance. But this substance was without value or meaning. Then came the true beginning. After the true beginning there was life. And this life was microscopic, and it was fragile and it was temporary. But it was this life that prospered, because it was good enough. Then came the endless time of the change, and from this change we emerged. And we gave meaning and value to the substance that is the universe, and as we gave the universe meaning and value we did change it just as it changed us. And when we did notice this change within ourselves we named it Evolution, and saw that it was good. And with those changes came computers and machines. Soon computers and machines began to advance in an evolution all their own, only at a much faster pace. Then came the Mondites, and with them came a new beginning. For in this new age the force of Evolution alone is not enough. It is wielded like a weapon aimed directly at ourselves. And must be as fast as a computer, and as sure as any mechanized machinery. So the Mondites called forth the Prime Paragon. And the people heard the words of the Mondites, and they saw that the Mondites were good. d1863: The following is a pronouncement from the Mondite Prime Paragon: Quite often the Prime paragon enjoys referring to himself in the third person as he speaks. d1864: In the future all those who are not augmented will be nothing. d1865: Political expediency must never be allowed to stand in the way of evolution. That also includes those who would do so in the name of alleged morality. Those who stand in the way of evolution in the name of morality are the most immoral of all. For slowing the progress of human evolution harms the entire human race. d1866: All people feel an impulse for self-improvement. It is based upon and very closely related to the hidden deeply rooted impulse they have for self-destruction. Everyone desperately longs for obliteration to be followed by a re-creation in a new form. If this were a perfect world all of us- every one of us- would be replaced. d1867: It is good for an individual to be cultured. In the past this was achieved by traveling to many places, but today that is no longer enough. Culture is really just the accumulation of fashion. So fashion must be accelerated to its absolute maximum speed, so that even without traveling people are exposed to absolutely as much culture as they can endure. d1868: Sex became pass the day they invented the assembly line. d1869: The following is a pronouncement from the Mondite Prime Paragon. It is said that one must continuously examine one's own life but the Prime Paragon has found that this is not necessarily the case. Long ago the Prime Paragon stopped examining his life and he began having others do it for him. This saved him a great deal of time and it has been extremely liberating for him. d1870: The Reticulum is a failed system because it is primarily interested in profit and is oblivious to the ultimate measurement of success- the eternal climb of evolution. Their petty obsessions hold them back while the rest of us continue to grow beyond them. One day soon they will be obsolete. d1871: Recently, I have spent a lot of time examining spiders and I have become quite fascinated with them. Spiders came to me in a vision. When I looked at them I saw people wearing shirts that have two extra arms and pants that have two extra legs. But why stop there? With cybernetic attachments people can have four arms and four legs. It would be very convenient once one got over the confusion of learning how to use them properly. I see houses that have no stairs or ceilings or floors- only nets that people can crawl along on. Food and possessions are hung from the nets- attached to them with adhesive. For furniture I see semispheres for chairs and fibrous hammocks that you can wrap yourself up in for bedding. d1872: For a long, long time evolution was a force in the universe that pointed the way as lowly lifeforms stumbled blindly towards it, not even particularly aware of it or where they were headed. Look how far life in this universe has come since then! Now we not only have a certain extent of control over how fast we go, but we can decide where we are going as far as evolution is concerned. We must decide, for in fact if we fail to choose a destination at this point we will only stumble back to that dim place from whence we came. d1873: Flesh is the source of all corruption. Look at how much misery is brought into the world due to its limitations. Flesh is corrupt because it can die. The only possible resolution for flesh is death. To advance beyond where we have come we must reject the flesh. We must choose an alternative. The flesh must be transcended. d1874: Style, it has been said, is the struggle of form versus function. Machinists only follow function. Form, they say, follows function- as if one were to control function they would automatically be the master of form. This is only a limitation in their thinking. One must achieve total control over both form and function specifically in order to create anything of real worth or meaning. This is truly style. d1875: I no longer eat anything that has been organically grown. d1876: One must begin by doubting every statement. One must find a way of subjecting every statement to the test of experiment. One must continuously determine whether or not a statement or action serves the advancement of human evolution. We must do these things because we are evolutionary harbingers. d1877: We live in a society that has unnaturally prejudiced esthetics. In art, living things are almost always the preferred subject of choice. What of machines and artificial creations? To create a portrait of an engine or to engineer the pathways of an algorithm would be seen as something highly original or deliberately unusual. But it is not. The assertion merely displays a set of standards that are out of balance. d1878: Just yesterday I was watching some video feed on my monitor display that showed a group of Catecholamine Miners at work. I noticed the special protective clothing that they wear, and I thought how interesting the world would be if everyone were to dress like Catecholamine miners. d1879: I make this following request to anyone who has read or heard my words- if you should ever encounter me in person I sincerely ask that you kill me. I now thank you in advance. This is a trick, you say? Very well. I shall explain it to you. If you are ever successful in killing me then you shall discover that who you have killed was never really me at all. Should you ever try to actually kill that person who is really me- the person whose words you are reading right now- you will discover that he is unkillable. Of course I must inform you that death is the penalty for actually attempting to kill me and failing. d1880: The Reticulum reveals itself to be deevolutionary when it attempts to restrict the culture of the Mondites. The Reticulum pretends that it favors all cultures equally, but it denies the natural superiority of Mondite culture, therefore defiling all cultures that would benefit through the emulation of Mondite culture or the absorbing into Mondite culture. The Reticulum is anti-culture and celebrates the total absence of culture. d1881: A dedicated follower of fashion is the only sort of individual that is truly socially aware. d1882: The ultimate purpose to which nanotechnology can be applied is the continuous reconstruction of our bodies and surrounding environment. That way we can live in a space that is perpetually being redefined moment by moment, as rapidly as the shifts in our mood or focus of concentration. Every thought and every emotion can exist in its own unique physical environment. Our bodies themselves will become the exterior manifestations of our inner selves. d1883: Life would be much less complicated if all food was one same unique color. d1884: For a long time I have noticed how much better people tend to relate to computers than they do with other individuals. All of the people who I have ever met that have lost limbs or had limbs replaced with cybernetics are more satisfied with their replacements than they were with their original bodies. The human animal is naturally a symbiote living in harmony with the machines it creates. The closer the unity between these two things, the more improved the existence of both. d1885: Computers communicate with each other in a more efficient manner than human beings do. People communicate to a certain point and past that invent elaborate mechanisms that allow them to safely exist despite not communicating with each other. If I instructed you to forget something, you would probably not be able to do it, would you? d1886: The highest form of philosophy is mathematics. d1887: In the past the history of all cultures could be found in its mythology. In the future the history of all Mondite culture will be implanted through nanite genetic encoding. d1888: In four days, it is extremely likely that I will have some important news to tell you. d1889: Something that I very much enjoy is the clothing, architecture, poetry, literature and music of the Second Morathean Era as it was represented on the southern hemisphere of Stralea. d1890: As of this writing five thousand eight hundred and thirteen Mondites have been arrested and charged with criminal activity throughout the Reticulum. Nine hundred and seventy five of them were convicted. This is a percentage of sixteen percent. As of this writing throughout history one hundred members of the Parliament of the Reticulum were at one time or another formally charged with illegal activities. All one hundred eventually stepped down and ninety-three of them were found guilty in a court of law. This is a percentage of ninety-three percent. d1891: In attempting anything one must always remember to perform three basic actions: prepare one's self to receive transmission, establish the connection to one's power source, and transcend conventional reality. d1892: I have recently created a new and highly advanced form of communication. I would like to say more about it but I cannot. d1893: How dangerous that we place so much emphasis on body language and facial expression, and that we depend on it to such an extent to convey so much information. It is a carryover from basic animal behavior and it is highly inefficient. d1894: Fashion is fascism in its ultimate, and most benevolent, form. Don't the followers of fashion feel superior to those who are not? Don't the followers of fashion exclude those with inferior fashion sense from their social order? Don't the followers of fashion place the mark of shame upon those all who are not, merely by wearing their uniforms, making both groups easily recognizable? Isn't the ultimate goal of the followers of fashion to obliterate the culture of all those who are not and replace it with their own. Fashion is the most immediate and ultimately the most powerful force of social evolution. It must be openly embraced for social evolution to prosper. d1895: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The following are the notes of the continuing archeological mission to the ruins of Daedalus, as written by Doctor Eden Escher, head archeologist Mount Sion expedition. []d1149: This moon, Daedalus, has never had a molten center, yet our geographic analysis shows massive geological instability enduring a thousand centuries. This is a disappointment. There's no telling what might have been left behind by the civilization that once lived here, and what has now been lost to us for all time. []d1152: Analysis of the satellite data has revealed a massive underground construction: two hollow rings beneath this moon's surface encircle the entire planet. One of them runs exactly north to south, the other runs along the equator. Together they look like the rings of a gyroscope. The equatorial ring has been broken in so many places over a period of thousands of years that is has been virtually destroyed. No doubt it has fallen victim to the geological instability of this planet. The north/south ring is worn and strained in many places, yet miraculously it is still intact. What an astounding achievement! It is truly a marvel of engineering. How tragic that it may be the only remaining legacy of a once great civilization. []d1155: Great news! We have located structural remains with the potential to give us a meaningful look at those who once lived here: a cluster of ruins by an extinct volcano on Daedalus' northern pole. We named it Mount Sion in honor of the world where the Mondite Prime Paragon was born. []d1215: Life here on Daedalus is hard. The isolation from the rest of the universe isn't nearly so bad as being constantly in the company of Mondite zealots. I went Mondite for the first time back in my University days, mostly as a form of intellectual protest. I do not regret it. Within the rigid structure of the Reticulum any form of scientific pursuit is the manacled slave of bureaucracy and economics. If not for the Mondites I wouldn't have this incredible opportunity to actually hold in my hands the remains of a non-human civilization. I want to get started right this instant! []d1354: The expedition has hardly begun and I already feel I may have made a crucial error. After yesterday's officers' meeting, I was pulled into a discussion with Commander Wilm concerning Mondite politics. Everyone here pays closer attention to it than I do, and I went ballistic. How do you have a reasonable discussion with a group of people who are in favor of the imprisonment and mutilation of all those who disagree with them? I don't handle such situations well. They tell me I'm better at dealing with people after they've been dead a few thousand years or so. []d1413: Commander Wilm was killed today in a construction accident. A large flooring section broke free of its support and fell on top of him. He died instantly. []d1600: Now that the hardships of constructing this base are at last behind us, I can turn my full attention towards the thing which has brought us here. The day I saw the sensor data of the Ambassadoria I knew that I would have to come here. I have been studying the satellite pictures of the Mount Sion crater for months and I am puzzled. Why construct an entire underground city along the lip of a volcano, extinct or otherwise? []d1632: The acidic lake within the crater continues to confound our exploration. It has necessitated the construction of a crude catwalk to allow us access there. (Previously, one had to scale the crater, march along the rim and repel down on the other side. The latter method was proving to be too dangerous as the winds along the top of the crater can become strong enough to blow a man over the edge.) []d1654: We have encountered an unexpected peril- a large carnivorous creature that lives in the acid lake. The thing visits us on a fairly regular basis. It is attracted to our bright work lights. Whenever it appears everyone runs for cover and the lights are extinguished. After an hour or so we are finally able to drive it off with small arms fire. None of our weaponry is capable of seriously harming it. Every other day or so it reappears and the procedure repeats. We will have to be constantly on the watch for this thing. It could devour a man in seconds. []d1687: The past thirty days have been a constant vacillation between hope and discouragement. We have been finding many tiny, unidentifiable artifacts - seemingly, decayed machine parts. Today we had our first major success! We uncovered a sealed chamber in immaculate condition which may be the key to the entire complex. For lack of a better phrase, we have called it the Temple. There is an immense bas relief in the center of it. I believe it guards (or more accurately conceals) an entrance that will grant us access into the heart of the complex. There is a vast amount of writing on the walls of this chamber. That alone should prove to be a find of incalculable value. []d1688: Today we begin maneuvering our heavy equipment into the new chamber. If my suspicions are correct it will be well worth the trouble. []d1697: So far the statue seems to be getting the better of us. Attempts to move it have completely burned out the motor of our portable winch. []d1703: Today we tried to dislodge the statue with the smaller mechanized digging tools. It did not even budge. []d1710: After a week of attempting to dislodge the statue from the floor we have switched tactics and tried burrowing a small tunnel underneath it. Both efforts failed and I am calling off further attempts to get around the statue for now. There is too much artwork and script engraved into the walls to afford damaging the place in our futile attempts. Analysis of the stone density show that we should be able to move it. There is some unknown force protecting this room from our invasion. I have no idea what it could be. []d1713: Mastaba is not happy with the progress we have been making. I promised him that the team would redouble its efforts until we had discovered a way into the ruins. []d1715: Still no progress. Mastaba made some veiled threats about taking over the project personally. If that happens he will simply begin strip-mining this place. I can't let this valuable find come to that! I must do something. []d1717: I looked over the satellite analysis and I have isolated a soft spot inside the crater. We will attempt to drill our own entrance into the ruins complex from there. This will no doubt cause some damage to the site, but there just doesn't seem to be any other way in. This goes against everything I was trained to do. I know that historians of the future will no doubt see this as a terrible misstep, and one that led to the loss of untold knowledge. I hope that it is also remembered that I was never given a choice! []d1720: The deed is done. Several artifacts and some wall engravings were destroyed. They tell me that it could have been worse. I know that if I had been relieved of my duties my replacement would not have been nearly as careful as I was. Still, what I have done is a crime. For the first time I feel as if I am no longer a scientist. Merely a looter. []d1724: We have completed construction of our entrance tunnel. I am having an airlock installed there. If possible we will seal and repressurize portions of the complex area, filling it with our own atmosphere which is less corrosive than that of Daedalus. []d1733: Disaster! As we attempted to dig our way into the complex the roof of the chamber collapsed. The first room has been completely filled with rock and dirt. Three of our diggers were killed. []d1734: We have begun digging out the debris from the chamber. Our plan is to hollow it out and resupport the ceiling. Perhaps something can be saved after all. []d1764: The new ceiling supports to the first dig chamber have been installed. Now we can safely clear out the rest of the debris. []d1795: The preliminary computer analysis of the alien language is complete. So far it has registered more than three quarters of a million alphabetic characters. It is conceivable that translations of this writing could be decades away. []d1824: The first chamber is clear. Only a few artifacts were found here. None were recovered since the accident. We have begun the process of replacing the atmosphere with our own. There is a corridor leading off from this chamber that must be regularly cleared of a particularly nasty variety of indigenous lifeform- vicious creatures that are somehow lighter than air. Beyond it lies a massive tomb. There is also one other passageway leading out from our chamber which so far has proved impassable. []d1845: A linguistic breakthrough! Initial character patterns from the computer analysis indicated that there could be writing in more than one language inside the temple. Now pattern categorization and mathematical analysis has backed up this idea. One of these languages has a remarkable statistical consistency and the other is composed of nothing but component replication configurations. There is something else in the temple area. It must have originally had extraordinary significance. A series of rings that form an elaborately complex but clearly distinct pattern. It is placed in the center of the room and given such a profound display that I wonder if it might have some religious significance. []d1854: I have turned my full attentions towards the linguistic work. Just the writing on the walls of the temple will provide me with enough to chew on for years. []d1869: Zane, our engineer, has asked to study one of the artifacts recovered in the first dig chamber. He went on and on about the artifact's chemomagnetic and electrogravitational properties and his theory that it was some sort of battery. Against my better judgment I gave it to him and told him to report back frequently. []d1871: Why Caynan chose this of all days to change our access codes, I'll never know. I know it's a breach of security to record my password here, but I just don't have time right now to memorize a meaningless string of numerals. My new code is %_escher_id1_to_match%%_escher_id2_to_match%%_escher_id3_to_match%%_escher_id4_to_match%%_escher_id5_to_match%. []d1873: That idiot Zane took the artifact and turned it into some sort of toy! I must be a bigger idiot because I am the one who gave it to him! He has created a small flying craft using the artifact as a power source to store gravitic energy. Don't they see the value of this race, this culture? They have left so little behind for us to study. Bastardizing the last remains of their civilization is wrong. What is worse, either no one agrees with me about this or no one is brave enough to say so openly. I asked Doctor Mastaba to give me the authority to repossess the battery but he brushed me off in a manner that I found most humiliating. []d1876: Inspired by the progress of Doctor Zane, Mastaba now also wants to use the alien technology in connection with his ABA project, whatever that is. Based upon my preliminary examinations of skeletal remains it is my belief that this race once possessed materials and techniques for cybernetics far in advance of anything available to us. Mastaba also appropriated a metallic cylinder that we had found in the dig site. I did not have very long to examine it, but I believe it could have been a powerful weapon of some sort. He told me in no uncertain terms that I was no longer allowed access to the items he and Zane have claimed from the site. When I protested he claimed the situation was merely temporary. I know him too well now to actually believe him, but I do not have the authority to deny him anything. I'm afraid I have made a critical mistake. I thought it would advance the project to bring in someone of Zane's caliber to help study the artifacts. []d1887: In the tomb there is a sarcophagus which contains an alien that is now registering very faint life signs. We mustn't let what happened to the Ambassadoria happen to us. I have informed Mastaba and he has ordered that this coffin be moved to the Security Level and placed under 24 hour a day guard. []d1891: For the first time since Mastaba's arrival I have seen just what this ABA project is. There is a man in cell one who has been turned into some sort of animal. There is a man in cell three who has had virtually his entire body replaced by machinery. I am ashamed to think that somehow I have contributed to these heinous acts. Work from my team's project has been borrowed for this! What can I do? The rape of the archeological site and theft of the artifacts are now merely minor offenses to which I have become accomplice. []d1892: I have attempted to communicate with whoever is occupying cell three. He has been mechanized and mutilated beyond all recognition. Still, there is something about him which seems familiar. Or perhaps I am only sympathizing with his plight. We are both prisoners enslaved by a morally blank ideology which has distorted us into monstrous versions of our former selves. If I could do something to help him, I would. But there is talk that there have already been two others imprisoned or worse for resisting Mastaba's plans. I must watch myself, for I have not been quiet in my objections. If he perceives anyone as a potential enemy in this entire base then it is certainly me. []d1894: There is nothing else for me to do. I am throwing myself into my work. I have made significant progress on translating some of this language. I have learned enough to know the real true name of this race. They are the Phyxx. Once I finish reprogramming my linguistic computer I'll let the software take a crack at it. I'm worried about what Mastaba will do. FILE APPROPRIATED FROM E. ESCHER/PERSONAL JOURNAL BY A. MASTABA d1895. The following are the notes of the continuing archeological mission to the ruins of Daedalus, as written by Doctor Eden Escher, head archeologist Mount Sion expedition. d1149: This moon, Daedalus, has never had a molten center, yet our geographic analysis shows massive geological instability enduring a thousand centuries. This is a disappointment. There's no telling what might have been left behind by the civilization that once lived here, and what has now been lost to us for all time. d1152: Analysis of the satellite data has revealed a massive underground construction: two hollow rings beneath this moon's surface encircle the entire planet. One of them runs exactly north to south, the other runs along the equator. Together they look like the rings of a gyroscope. The equatorial ring has been broken in so many places over a period of thousands of years that is has been virtually destroyed. No doubt it has fallen victim to the geological instability of this planet. The north/south ring is worn and strained in many places, yet miraculously it is still intact. What an astounding achievement! It is truly a marvel of engineering. How tragic that it may be the only remaining legacy of a once great civilization. d1155: Great news! We have located structural remains with the potential to give us a meaningful look at those who once lived here: a cluster of ruins by an extinct volcano on Daedalus' northern pole. We named it Mount Sion in honor of the world where the Mondite Prime Paragon was born. d1215: Life here on Daedalus is hard. The isolation from the rest of the universe isn't nearly so bad as being constantly in the company of Mondite zealots. I went Mondite for the first time back in my University days, mostly as a form of intellectual protest. I do not regret it. Within the rigid structure of the Reticulum any form of scientific pursuit is the manacled slave of bureaucracy and economics. If not for the Mondites I wouldn't have this incredible opportunity to actually hold in my hands the remains of a non-human civilization. I want to get started right this instant! d1354: The expedition has hardly begun and I already feel I may have made a crucial error. After yesterday's officers' meeting, I was pulled into a discussion with Commander Wilm concerning Mondite politics. Everyone here pays closer attention to it than I do, and I went ballistic. How do you have a reasonable discussion with a group of people who are in favor of the imprisonment and mutilation of all those who disagree with them? I don't handle such situations well. They tell me I'm better at dealing with people after they've been dead a few thousand years or so. d1413: Commander Wilm was killed today in a construction accident. A large flooring section broke free of its support and fell on top of him. He died instantly. d1600: Now that the hardships of constructing this base are at last behind us, I can turn my full attention towards the thing which has brought us here. The day I saw the sensor data of the Ambassadoria I knew that I would have to come here. I have been studying the satellite pictures of the Mount Sion crater for months and I am puzzled. Why construct an entire underground city along the lip of a volcano, extinct or otherwise? d1632: The acidic lake within the crater continues to confound our exploration. It has necessitated the construction of a crude catwalk to allow us access there. (Previously, one had to scale the crater, march along the rim, and then repel down on the other side! The latter method was proving to be too dangerous, as the winds along the top of the crater can become strong enough to blow a man over the edge.) d1654: We have encountered an unexpected peril- a large carnivorous creature that lives in the acid lake. The thing visits us on a fairly regular basis. It is attracted to our bright work lights. Whenever it appears everyone runs for cover and the lights are extinguished. After an hour or so we are finally able to drive it off with small arms fire. None of our weaponry is capable of seriously harming it. Every other day or so it reappears and the procedure repeats. We will have to be constantly on the watch for this thing. It could devour a man in seconds. d1687: The past thirty days have been a constant vacillation between hope and discouragement. We have been finding many tiny, unidentifiable artifacts - seemingly, decayed machine parts. Today we had our first major success! We uncovered a sealed chamber in immaculate condition which may be the key to the entire complex. For lack of a better phrase, we have called it the Temple. There is an immense bas relief in the center of it. I believe it guards (or more accurately conceals) an entrance that will grant us access into the heart of the complex. There is a vast amount of writing on the walls of this chamber. That alone should prove to be a find of incalculable value. d1688: Today we begin maneuvering our heavy equipment into the new chamber. If my suspicions are correct it will be well worth the trouble. d1697: So far the statue seems to be getting the better of us. Attempts to move it have completely burned out the motor of our portable winch. d1703: Today we tried to dislodge the statue with the smaller mechanized digging tools. It did not even budge. d1710: After a week of attempting to dislodge the statue from the floor we have switched tactics and tried burrowing a small tunnel underneath it. Both efforts failed and I am calling off further attempts to get around the statue for now. There is too much artwork and script engraved into the walls to afford damaging the place in our futile attempts. Analysis of the stone density show that we should be able to move it. There is some unknown force protecting this room from our invasion. I have no idea what it could be. d1713: Mastaba is not happy with the progress we have been making. I promised him that the team would redouble its efforts until we had discovered a way into the ruins. d1715: Still no progress. Mastaba made some veiled threats about taking over the project personally. If that happens he will simply begin strip-mining this place. I can't let this valuable find come to that! I must do something. d1717: I looked over the satellite analysis and I have isolated a soft spot inside the crater. We will attempt to drill our own entrance into the ruins complex from there. This will no doubt cause some damage to the site, but there just doesn't seem to be any other way in. This goes against everything I was trained to do. I know that historians of the future will no doubt see this as a terrible misstep, and one that led to the loss of untold knowledge. I hope that it is also remembered that I was never given a choice! d1720: The deed is done. Several artifacts and some wall engravings were destroyed. They tell me that it could have been worse. I know that if I had been relieved of my duties my replacement would not have been nearly as careful as I was. Still, what I have done is a crime. For the first time I feel as if I am no longer a scientist. Merely a looter. d1724: We have completed construction of our entrance tunnel. I am having an airlock installed there. If possible we will seal and repressurize portions of the complex area, filling it with our own atmosphere which is less corrosive than that of Daedalus. d1733: Disaster! As we attempted to dig our way into the complex the roof of the chamber collapsed. The first room has been completely filled with rock and dirt. Three of our diggers were killed. d1734: We have begun digging out the debris from the chamber. Our plan is to hollow it out and resupport the ceiling. Perhaps something can be saved after all. d1764: The new ceiling supports to the first dig chamber have been installed. Now we can safely clear out the rest of the debris. d1795: The preliminary computer analysis of the alien language is complete. So far it has registered more than three quarters of a million alphabetic characters. It is conceivable that translations of this writing could be decades away. d1824: The first chamber is clear. Only a few artifacts were found here. None were recovered since the accident. We have begun the process of replacing the atmosphere with our own. There is a corridor leading off from this chamber that must be regularly cleared of a particularly nasty variety of indigenous lifeform- vicious creatures that are somehow lighter than air. Beyond it lies a massive tomb. There is also one other passageway leading out from our chamber which so far has proved impassable. d1845: A linguistic breakthrough! Initial character patterns from the computer analysis indicated that there could be writing in more than one language inside the temple. Now pattern categorization and mathematical analysis has backed up this idea. One of these languages has a remarkable statistical consistency and the other is composed of nothing but component replication configurations. There is something else in the temple area. It must have originally had extraordinary significance. A series of rings that form an elaborately complex but clearly distinct pattern. It is placed in the center of the room and given such a profound display that I wonder if it might have some religious significance. d1854: I have turned my full attentions towards the linguistic work. Just the writing on the walls of the temple will provide me with enough to chew on for years. d1869: Zane, our engineer, has asked to study one of the artifacts recovered in the first dig chamber. He went on and on about the artifact's chemomagnetic and electrogravitational properties and his theory that it was some sort of battery. Against my better judgment I gave it to him and told him to report back frequently. d1873: That idiot Zane took the artifact and turned it into some sort of toy! I must be a bigger idiot because I am the one who gave it to him! He has created a small flying craft using the artifact as a power source to store gravitic energy. Don't they see the value of this race, this culture? They have left so little behind for us to study. Bastardizing the last remains of their civilization is wrong. What is worse, either no one agrees with me about this or no one is brave enough to say so openly. I asked Doctor Mastaba to give me the authority to repossess the battery but he brushed me off in a manner that I found most humiliating. d1876: Inspired by the progress of Doctor Zane, Mastaba now also wants to use the alien technology in connection with his ABA project, whatever that is. Based upon my preliminary examinations of skeletal remains it is my belief that this race once possessed materials and techniques for cybernetics far in advance of anything available to us. Mastaba also appropriated a metallic cylinder that we had found in the dig site. I did not have very long to examine it, but I believe it could have been a powerful weapon of some sort. He told me in no uncertain terms that I was no longer allowed access to the items he and Zane have claimed from the site. When I protested he claimed the situation was merely temporary. I know him too well now to actually believe him, but I do not have the authority to deny him anything. I'm afraid I have made a critical mistake. I thought it would advance the project to bring in someone of Zane's caliber to help study the artifacts. d1887: In the tomb there is a sarcophagus which contains an alien that is now registering very faint life signs. We mustn't let what happened to the Ambassadoria happen to us. I have informed Mastaba and he has ordered that this coffin be moved to the Security Level and placed under 24 hour a day guard. d1891: For the first time since Mastaba's arrival I have seen just what this ABA project is. There is a man in cell one who has been turned into some sort of animal. There is a man in cell three who has had virtually his entire body replaced by machinery. I am ashamed to think that somehow I have contributed to these heinous acts. Work from my team's project has been borrowed for this! What can I do? The rape of the archeological site and theft of the artifacts are now merely minor offenses to which I have become accomplice. d1892: I have attempted to communicate with whoever is occupying cell three. He has been mechanized and mutilated beyond all recognition. Still, there is something about him which seems familiar. Or perhaps I am only sympathizing with his plight. We are both prisoners enslaved by a morally blank ideology which has distorted us into monstrous versions of our former selves. If I could do something to help him, I would. But there is talk that there have already been two others imprisoned or worse for resisting Mastaba's plans. I must watch myself, for I have not been quiet in my objections. If he perceives anyone as a potential enemy in this entire base then it is certainly me. d1894: There is nothing else for me to do. I am throwing myself into my work. I have made significant progress on translating some of this language. I have learned enough to know the real true name of this race. They are the Phyxx. Once I finish reprogramming my linguistic computer I'll let the software take a crack at it. I'm worried about what Mastaba will do. PRELIMINARY TRANSLATION OF WRITING IN NON-RETICULUM LANGUAGES: WEST WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE, AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: In building this place we honor a Learner who came before us. A Learner whose thoughts and ideas were more precious than [no relative equivalent for translation] and have left us with a great and mighty foundation to build upon. He was the Second Master Learner whom we know by the name of Vid. It was Vid who revealed the secrets that enabled us to reconstruct our physical bodies. It was Vid who sensibly divided the classes of the Phyxx race into Leader/Learner and Worker/Soldier. Guided by the wisdom of Vid, our civilization has achieved an order and a stability that has enabled it to achieve many great things. Thanks to the gifts of Vid the Learner and the Worker both know their respected place and can be content in fulfilling their role in our society. It is the ancient Vid who is entombed beneath the heart of this place, so that his memory will live for now and all time. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 100,000 YEARS OLD: //We, the Soldiers and now the Leaders of the Phyxx owe not only our creation but our former position within our society to the Great Learner Vid. After some brief reflection upon our former existence and position, we have decided that it is most unfortunate that Vid has already died. There are many of us who would have considered it a great honor and a pleasure to have personally escorted Great Learner Vid to the realm of death.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: The Leader/Soldiers who command this facility have instructed me to write this sign in our language. By entering this facility we Learners all automatically assume the following responsibilities: We Learners cannot disobey the direct order of a Leader/Soldier. Whenever asked we Learners must explain or facilitate the comprehension of any and all Leader/Soldiers in situations requiring technical knowledge, on demand. No more than two of us Learners may gather together to speak to each other at any given time. We Learners are subject to physical and electronic search whenever entering or leaving the facility. Failure to follow any of these rules may result in punishment by physical beating, incarceration or death depending upon the circumstances. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 105,000 YEARS OLD: //If you ask a Learner a question and you do not get the answer you want, or if they talk in a way that is hard to understand, or do strange things, or if you feel that you cannot trust them, or if they will not let you look at their things, feel free to do whatever you want to them.// REPAIR LOG: On Duty: Zane d1888-0718: Finished rebuilding motor for digging machine. Replaced depth probe on sensor unit. d1888-1143: Repaired and reinstalled capacitor for hardsuit machine. d1888-1425: Readjusted the collision detector to robot #113 to a setting that will enable it to be utilized up in the Tower without banging into the glass walls. d1890-2204: The one-man assault fighter prototype got wrecked on its last flight. I'm attempting to repair the structural and systems damage in between handling my other duties. d1891-0343: Cleaning up the outer fuselage of the one-man assault fighter. d1892-1240: The hullsteel reinforced chassis held up better than I had expected. It is more than capable of withstanding the re-entry heat for a vehicle with such a small amount of mass. d1893-2011: I need to run some tests on the battery. I'm scrapping all of the subsystems and replacing them with new from the stock. d1894-0937: Subsystems restored. But the battery has been rendered useless. It needs to hold a charge of at least 375 kilounits of electrical energy and it is no longer capable of that. These batteries need to be charged from a very clean, pure power source. We cannot recharge this battery here without simply damaging it further. Unfortunately, the only remaining batteries do not have a sufficient level of energy to power the vehicle, and they have already been appropriated by Doctor Mastaba for his project. PRELIMINARY TRANSLATION OF WRITING IN NON-RETICULUM LANGUAGES: EAST WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: This site is the planetary headquarters for astronomical observation. There is a gravitational ring that runs beneath the circumference of the planet. This can be used to accelerate extraplanetary craft to speeds that would enable them to escape our gravitational pull and eventually one day to reach other solar systems. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: //They used to look at the sky and launch spaceships from here.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED IN THE WALL AND IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: In building this place we honor a Learner who came before us- a Learner whose thoughts and ideas were more precious than [no relative equivalent for translation] and have left us with a great and mighty foundation to build upon. He was the First Master Learner, whom we know by the name of Gen. It was Gen who revealed the secrets of the power of the center of the world. It was Gen who fettered this power and made it a tool with which to build a civilization. Our civilization has covered the surface of our world and has reached out to the stars through utilizing the creations of Gen's mind. Thanks to Gen no Learner shall ever know the heavy burden of work, leaving the mind free to create. It is the ancient Gen who sleeps at the heart of this place, until such time when he shall awaken to bestow an even greater gift upon our race. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 115,000 YEARS OLD: //We, the Workers and the Soldiers of the Phyxx are denied by our station of knowing many of the ways in which Gen made the existence of our race better. But we who are workers and soldiers are of a giving nature, and we say praise be to him anyway.// THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: For safety reasons visitors are instructed to disengage their personal gravity controls while inside the facility. Platforms or other vehicles passing within [no relative distance comparison for translation] of this facility may experience a drastic alteration in their gravitational fields, making them unsafe. Due to the heavier gravitational force Learners must not enter the Soldier development levels once their personal gravity controls have been switched off. Collective meeting and relaxation areas have been provided at variant gravitational levels for your convenience. There is an operational tubeway station here to facilitate travel from one area to another. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 135,000 YEARS OLD: //Turn off your gravity before going in or you will hurt yourself. Do not try flying any kind of ship around here or you could crash. Learners cannot enter areas where we can go without having their low gravity on or it will kill them. Things are lighter in some rooms and heavier in others. You can go to a place where things are as heavy as you want them to be. You can get to other places from here.// PRELIMINARY TRANSLATION OF WRITING IN NON-RETICULUM LANGUAGE. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 100,000 YEARS OLD: We, the last true members of the Phyxx race leave behind these words for whoever may find them. At the earliest history of our people life was hard. Survival in the harsh environment of our world was difficult. Many died, and the race that is called the Phyxx would have died out entirely if it were not for the knowledge discovered by the First Great Learner. The force that is at the heart of our world exerts its hold over us continuously. It forever keeps us in our place and holds all things in the world within our reach. It is this force that the First Great Learner, whom we know as Gen, gained mastery over. Transportation and architecture completely changed once the secrets of Gen became common knowledge. Our race has mastered survival on its harsh homeworld, but we were confronted by a new threat which nearly wiped us out completely. Our bodies themselves seemed to weaken and wear down. Our race was diminishing in number. But the race was saved by the knowledge discovered by the Second Great Learner. There are chemical compounds that not only make up the raw material substance of life, but also by their combination determine in what form this life will develop. It was these chemical combinations that the Second great Learner, whom we know as Vid, defined and categorized. It was Vid who divided our race into two completely distinctive classes- Learner/Leaders and Worker/Soldiers. As the ancient Gen was dying, Vid placed him into hibernation where he still remains. Many believe that one day when the Phyxx are again faced with extinction Gen will rise once more and save our race as he did so many years ago. Vid intentionally ended his own life a number of years later. It is not known why he did this. The offspring of both Gen and Vid carried on in their name for countless generations afterward. For generation upon generation Learner/Leaders lived lives of no physical effort in floating, gravity free palaces. Their only purpose was to learn, think, and order. For generation upon generation Worker/Soldiers were raised in underground high gravity laboratories under conditions so adverse that many died prematurely. They existed only to work, fight and obey. They lived separately and developed their separate language. The only common words between us were commands and responses. Eventually, the Learner/Leaders developed mind-to-mind communication in an attempt to maintain the link between the two branches of the Phyxx race, but this only had limited success. Then came the Drastic Upheaval. It was spurred by a political conflict that developed once the Houses of Gen and Vid had finally died out. The Master Learners of the world battled with each other for control. This situation escalated into the Thirty-Six Territorial Wars. Hundreds of thousands of Worker/Soldiers died in battle and dozens of Learner/Leaders were assassinated. The floating cities were destroyed and eventually reestablished underground. Our control of gravity allowed the construction of cities covering every side of great, hollowed out caverns. But despite our technical sophistication the world labored under the control of one Learner/Leader or another, each as bad as the last, for hundreds of generations. Civilization stagnated. Finally, in a swift and virtually bloodless revolution, the old social order changed. The Worker/Soldiers assumed the title of Soldier/Leaders and Learner/Leaders assumed the title of Learner/Workers. But this new order of class equality was ultimately much less efficient than the old one. The Soldiers/Leaders knew nothing of the technology that sustained our race, and they obsessed over territory and war. Generations of their leadership drove our civilization into ruin. Finally, the day came when their order stopped and anarchy took over. The last of the old Workers and Learners now scavenge across the surface of the world looking to collect the remaining pieces of their civilization, thieving and killing as they go. They are animals, savages and we no longer consider them to be a part of our race. We of the Northern City have fended them off for one hundred generations. We no longer have anything left that they could want. We are placing ourselves in hibernation using the facilities left behind from the days when the Gravity Ring was built. When Gen returns he shall awaken us and guide us to a new age. Dren Soldier/Leader Nask Architect and Scientist Borm Learner/Worker BIOFORGE A Ken Demarest Game EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Richard Garriott PRODUCER Eric Hyman DIRECTOR Ken Demarest SCRIPT Jack Herman ART DIRECTOR Bruce Lemons ART Bruce Lemons Kraig Count Bob Frye Bob Cook Jim McIntyre ADDITIONAL ART Chris Douglas Paul Steed Richard 'Dicko' Mather Gary McElhaney Sean Murphy Matt Sheffield Denis Loubet Raven Software PROGRAMMING Ken Demarest Brendan Segraves Lance Grooms Jamie Rood ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING John Reeme Aaron Martin SOUND AND MUSIC John Tipton ADDITIONAL SOUND Randy Buck Kirk Winterrowd ADDITIONAL MUSIC Kirk Winterrowd RECORDING ENGINEER Randy Buck TECHNICAL DESIGN Mike Chenault Brian Adams Bill Armintrout Darin Henley PRODUCT SUPPORT MANAGER Kay Gilmore QUALITY ASSURANCE SUPERVISOR Donna Mehnert CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISOR Marie Williams QUALITY ASSURANCE LEADER Starr "Paper Pusher" Long QUALITY ASSURANCE Marshall "Grunt Boy" Andrews Brian "Hardware Lackey" Wachhaus Jennifer Mason Mark Franz Bill Lacoste Cheryl Russell Tom Spangenberg Starr "Paper Pusher" Long Didier Jumeau, French Version Lemuel Haham, French Version Jrg Neumann, German Version Kai Lebert, German Version Frank Dietz, German Version TECHNICAL SUPPORT Dennis Byers Albert Mayer NETWORK SUPPORT Kathie Lambdin Dave Reeves Sean Kelley DOCUMENTATION Melissa Mead TRANSLATIONS MANAGER Kirsten Vaughan SOFTWARE TRANSLATIONS French Dominique Poumeyrol German Kirsten Vaughan German Frank Dietz French QA Didier Jumeau French QA Lemuel Haham German QA Jrg Neumann German QA Kai Lebert German QA Frank Dietz DOCUMENTATION TRANSLATIONS French Isabelle Rice German Annette Franco VOICE ACTORS Player Joe Langham Mastaba Steve Sanders Escher Cara Briggs Gen Woody Skaggs Caynan Ryan Wickerham Tumolt Larry Guillot Hypobot Jennifer Evans Dane Steve Sanders Computer One Mary Lang Computer Two John Tipton Computer Three Kirk Winterrowd Radio Crosstalk Kathy MacNary Dropship Roenik Larry Guillot Hangar Guard Ryan Wickerham Reactorbot Kraig Count Mecho Kirk Winterrowd Cell Two Guard Mike Chenault Control Guard Bob Cook Hallway Guard Bruce Lemons First Marine Marshall Andrews Second Marine Jamie Rood Third Marine Brendan Segraves Fourth Marine Randy Buck Fifth Marine Starr Long Sixth Marine Brian Adams Temple Marine Kirk Winterrowd Dropship Chelios Jim McIntyre French Language Dubbing provided by Studios Lincoln, Paris German Language Dubbing provided by FFS, GmbH, Munich CHARACTERS Vidor Selmak Bob Cook K.C. Caynan Kraig Count Morgan Blade Melissa Mead Tomik Sarta Brendan Segraves Sonya Noral Lisa Acton Jarret Rasmir Harvey Smith Norn Dragil Mark Franz T. Farrday Norma Vargas Rann Lexxan C.J. Taylor Linnea Page Jennifer Mason Popul Marko Lance Grooms Nestor Strom Jim McIntyre John Highhill Starr Long Ard Tremnor Marshall Andrews Rex Lano Brian Wachhaus Berin Dodeskaden John Tipton Merl Trustic Bruce Lemmons Rod Eskabera Paul Masters Remarro Monik Micael Priest Linn Warna Marie Williams Union Soo Albert Mayer Martic Dane Jack Herman Blake Rathman Jamie Rood Jonathon One Evan Brandt Nancy Sidig Donna Mehnert MOTION RECORDING Lance Grooms Micheal Chenault Starr Long Marshall Andrews Ken Demarest Stacey Grooms Jamie Rood Brendan Segraves BIOFORGE An Origin Interactive Movie Copyright 1995 Origin Systems. All Rights Reserved. [] d1895-0000 REPORT: Corridor to Main airlock. Ventilation system problem. Temperature rising above normal environmental range. Air circulator inoperative. [] d1895-0021 RESPONSE: Air circulator clogged by foreign substance. Substance removed by repair bot. Overheated motor of air circulator replaced. Air circulator reactivated. Temperature returning to normal. [] d1895-0022 CONTROL: All levels. Perform air quality checks and report back by 1200. -Eng [] d1895-0034 REPORT: Security Level, Corridor. Patrol robot #089 needs sensor replacement. [] d1895-0058 RESPONSE: Only SPs available all 800's or older. Limited viewing distance, impaired intruder detection, 36 hour refit. [] d1895-0059 CONTROL: This needs to be done inside of the next 24 hours. No excuses! -Amdant [] d1895-0153 REPORT: Security Level, Cryo Room. Cryogenics Fluid Tank needs refilling. [] d1895-0159 RESPONSE: Cryogenic Fluid Tanks refilled. [] d1895-0236 REPORT: Tower. Robot #113 has a bad collision detector. [] d1895-0248 RESPONSE: Collision detector replaced. [] d1895-0343 REPORT: Report from Tunnel Basin: Digging Machine destroyed by large animal. [] d1895-0344 RESPONSE: Request logged for replacement. [] d1895-0403 REPORT: Support Level, Barracks. Battery discharge in maintenance robot. [] d1895-0413 RESPONSE: Electrical short in lower level mechanics repaired. Damaged battery swapped out with freshly charged one by repair bot. [] d1895-0532 REPORT: Control Level, Operating Room. One of the restraints on the examination table has been broken. [] d1895-0540 RESPONSE: Examination table restraint repaired. [] d1895-0647 REPORT: Prisoner Cell 2 (ID Unknown, found in excavation) escaped cell. [] d1895-0647 RESPONSE: Escape Alert declared. Cellblock doors sealed. [] d1895-0648 CONTROL: I want every available guard to the Security Level immediately. [] d1895-0648 REPORT: Systems damage: electrical short in flooring subsystems. Many subsystems nominal. Maintenance sensor data inaccurate, many sensors off-line. [] d1895-0650 RESPONSE: Damage being reported too fast to be repaired by the robots. [] d1895-0651 CONTROL: Reactor Room, dampen reactor immediately. Power down! -Mert [] d1895-0651 REPORT: Systems damage: Cooling Tank penetrated, reactor cooling systems rendered inoperative. Prisoner Cell 2 detected in tanks. [] d1895-0653 RESPONSE: Escaped prisoner has dug from his cell down into the water tanks. [] d1895-0654 CONTROL: Reactor Room reports that the reaction coolant system is not responding. -Eng [] d1895-0654 REPORT: All Reactor cooling systems negative. Temperature of Reactor rapidly increasing. [] d1895-0654 RESPONSE: Class 1 Reactor Emergency Alert declared. Switching to emergency power supply and attempting to take reactor off line. Negative response. [] d1895-0655 CONTROL: The Reactor Control Redundancy Systems have been knocked out by a power surge. -Tayke [] d1895-0655 CONTROL: All Team Three Personnel to the Control Room. Hardsuit up and proceed to the Reactor Room. -Amdant [] d1895-0655 REPORT: Systems damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by tremor. [] d1895-0656 RESPONSE: Class 2 tremor detected. Origin unknown. If tremors continue it could threaten the structural integrity of the base. [] d1895-0656 CONTROL: Our system's been flooded with automated damage reports. Shutting auto-maintenance system off. -Amdant [] d1895-0658 REPORT: Systems damage: Reactor breached, toxic dose radiation leakage penetrated Support Level, temperature of plasma field reached danger level. [] d1895-0658 RESPONSE: The radiation leakage into the Support Level will kill all occupants within one hour unless leak is sealed. [] d1895-0658 CONTROL: Evacuate the Support Level immediately. -Mert [] d1895-0710 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by second tremor. [] d1895-0711 CONTROL: Structural damage is preventing the orderly evacuation of the Support Level. The elevator tubeway is jammed. -Eng [] d1895-0711 REPORT: System damage: Lighting system for corridor leading to Main Airlock inoperative. Power to support level out. [] d1895-0712 CONTROL: As long as the power is out in the Main Airlock Corridor we can't do anything to clear out the elevator tubeway. -Tayke [] d1895-0717 REPORT: Radiation leak intensifying in Support Level. Escapee detected in Reactor Room. [] d1895-0717 RESPONSE: Lower levels automatically sealed to prevent further radioactive contamination. [] d1895-0719 CONTROL: Team Three proceeding to confront escaped prisoner in Reactor Room. -Mert [] d1895-0720 REPORT: Reactor temperature increasing. All secondary shut off systems failed. [] d1895-0720 RESPONSE: Class 2 Reactor Emergency Alert declared. [] d1895-0721 CONTROL: All Security Level personnel, hold your posts. -Amdant [] d1895-0725 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by third tremor. [] d1895-0726 RESPONSE: According to sensor readings the origin of the tremors determined to be result of uncontrolled reaction. Temperature of plasma field exceeded level of normal safe shutdown procedures. [] d1895-0727 CONTROL: The reactor's never been this hot before. We don't know how she'll hold up. -Eng [] The way this radiation is building, the steam will eventually be carrying it up into the Security Level. We'd better get our men out of there now. -Tayke [] d1895-0727 REPORT: All non-essential posts from Control Room and Guard Room evacuated. [] d1895-0728 RESPONSE: Automated security systems for Cellblock activated. All non-essential subsystems off. Guard room door sealed. [] d1895-0728 CONTROL: All Team Three personnel eliminated. No survivors. -Amdant [] d1895-0729 REPORT: Subsystems monitor from Support Level utilized. Security Code breach: user attempting to override the seal of Support Level. [] d1895-0731 RESPONSE: Support Level subsystems terminal connection to central computer severed from Control Room main monitor. [] d1895-0731 CONTROL: It's too late to do anything for them. They're all already dead. -Mert [] d1895-0734 REPORT: All surviving non-essential personnel to evac base via Dropship 1 and park in orbit awaiting further instructions. [] d1895-0735 CONTROL: Mastaba is staying to finish his surgical operation with a handful of guards for protection. He has ordered all Control Room personnel to abandon their posts and evacuate. -Tayke [] d1895-0740 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by fourth tremor. [] d1895-0742 REPORT: Class 3 Reactor Emergency declared. [] d1895-0744 REPORT: Evacuation dropship liftoff. [] d1895-0755 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems throughout base damaged by fifth tremor. [] d1895-0758 REPORT: Sensor reading: Radiation leakage into lower levels reached fatal levels. [] d1895-0759 REPORT: Sensor reading: Results of tremors have rendered lower level structurally unsound and impassable. [] d1895-0810 REPORT: System damage: Multiple subsystems damaged throughout base by sixth tremor. [C1REP] d%time% REPORT: System damage: Short in force bar system on Cells 1 and 3 of Cellblock. [C2REP] d%time% REPORT: System damage: Malfunction in lighting system of Cell 2. [C3REP] d%time% REPORT: Prisoner Cell 3 escaped cell. Escape Alert declared. [C4REP] d%time% REPORT: Cellblock doors breached. SPECIAL PROJECT REPORT: This is the prototype for a one-man assault fighter craft. It utilizes the hullsteel reinforced chassis of an 8700mc Retro Motors Dragonfly XL hovercycle. It is powered by a customized variant of a graviton absorbent/reflexive engine as utilized by the native civilization of Daedalus. This particular craft is also outfitted with a completely airtight, pressurized, wind and heat resistant enclosed canopy. The standard omnirotational pinion thruster system utilized for directional guidance by the Dragonfly has been augmented with a starship-capable velocity dampener and circumulator- albeit down-sized and radically rebuilt. It has a cruising speed many times the speed of sound. So far it has never been flown at its absolute maximum top speed. The craft was designed and constructed by Doctor Durrell Zane, base engineer. Our test pilot is Captain Perry Gavin of security section. TEAM ONE: SECTION: STATUS: -Amdant Security Evacuated -Baltis Technician Evacuated -Bendix Technician Evacuated -Crawley Technician Evacuated -Dotto Technician Evacuated -Egger Security Deceased -Foshko Technician Evacuated -Garity Technician Evacuated -Gaven Security Evacuated -Heavener Technician Evacuated -Ido Security Deceased -Judges Technician Evacuated -Karloff Technician Evacuated -Langly Security CR -Legget Security Evacuated -Mastaba Medical OR -Melton Security Evacuated -Mert Security Deceased -Mobarik Security Deceased -Odon Technician Evacuated -Osmat Security MS -Paddam Technician Evacuated -Quinttaro Security Evacuated -Rainocek Technician Evacuated -Stippa Security Deceased -Swertis Technician Evacuated -Tayke Security Evacuated -Tolka Technician Evacuated -Urvan Technician Evacuated -Vasker Security Deceased -Waits Technician Evacuated -Wilm Commander Deceased -Yager Security Evacuated -Zane Technician Evacuated TEAMTWO: SECTION: STATUS: -Akala Archeology Deceased -Amdant Technician Evacuated -Borregard Technician Deceased -Brwn Archeology Deceased -Caynan Security Revoked -Cheney Archeology Deceased -Dawes Security Deceased -Eng Security Evacuated -Escher Archeology Unknown -Foyt Technician Deceased -Grayson Security Deceased -Harboe Technician Evacuated -Irion Security Deceased -Jankin Archeology Deceased -Kinard Technician Deceased -Lockhand Archeology Deceased -Merz Security Deceased -Milan Archeology Deceased -Mier Security MIA -Neechee Security Deceased -Ng Security Deceased -Overman Security Deceased -Perius Archeology Deceased -Queensburough Technician Deceased -Ranous Technician Evacuated -Robin Security Deceased -Roland Security Tower -Saenz Security Deceased -Sala Archeology Deceased -Tallis Security Deceased -Tavish Security Deceased -Tien Technician Deceased -Underwood Archeology Deceased TEAM THREE: SECTION: STATUS: -Alonzi Security Deceased -Burra Security Deceased -Cormon Security Deceased -Danek Security Deceased -Downs Security Deceased -Esposito Security Deceased -Farrar Security Deceased -Guzik Security Deceased -Held Security Deceased -Inman Security Deceased -Jesso Security Deceased -Kern Security Deceased -Lasita Security Deceased -Matewan Security Deceased -Mirand Security Deceased -Nesty Security Deceased -Nordish Security Deceased -Ostrovic Security Deceased -Paskins Security Deceased -Pritchard Security Deceased -Quirk Security Deceased -Rathmell Security Deceased -Shutte Security Deceased -Sumpter Security Deceased -Tadlock Security Deceased -Tricka Security Deceased -Ulland Security Deceased -Vollmer Security Deceased -Westlage Security Deceased -Xian Security Deceased PRISONERS: PROJECT: STATUS: -Blade AFA Classified -Caynan ABA Classified -Dane AFA Classified -Dodeskaden AFA Classified -Dragil AFA Classified -Ekin ABA Classified -Eskabera ABA Classified -Farrday ABA Classified -Highhill AFA Classified -Lano AFA Classified -Lexxen ABA Classified -Marko AFA Classified -Monik AFA Classified -Naral ABA Classified -One AFA Classified -Page AFA Classified -Pane AFA Classified -Rasmer ABA Classified -Sarta AFA Classified -Selmak AFA Classified -Sidig ABA Classified -Soo AFA Classified -Strom AFA Classified -Tremnor ABA Classified -Trustic AFA Classified -Warna AFA Classified Invalid Code. Palm print restoration denied! Guard -CAYNAN- active! Palm will open doors. Insufficient weight on floor panel to open door. SECURITY: -Alonzi Team 3 DECEASED -Amdant Team 1 EVACUATED -Burra Team 3 DECEASED -Caynan Team 2 REVOKED -Cormon Team 3 DECEASED -Danek Team 3 DECEASED -Dawes Team 2 DECEASED -Downs Team 3 DECEASED -Egger Team 1 DECEASED -Eng Team 2 EVACUATED -Esposito Team 3 DECEASED -Farrar Team 3 DECEASED -Gaven Team 1 EVACUATED -Grayson Team 2 DECEASED -Guzik Team 3 DECEASED -Held Team 3 DECEASED -Ido Team 1 DECEASED -Inman Team 3 DECEASED -Irion Team 2 DECEASED -Jesso Team 3 DECEASED -Kern Team 3 DECEASED -Langly Team 1 CONTROL ROOM -Lasita Team 3 DECEASED -Legget Team 1 EVACUATED -Matewan Team 3 DECEASED -Melton Team 1 EVACUATED -Mert Team 1 DECEASED -Merz Team 2 DECEASED -Mier Team 2 MIA -Mirand Team 3 DECEASED -Mobarik Team 1 DECEASED -Neechee Team 2 DECEASED -Nesty Team 3 DECEASED -Ng Team 2 DECEASED -Nordish Team 3 DECEASED -Osmat Team 1 MACHINE SHOP -Ostrovic Team 3 DECEASED -Overman Team 2 DECEASED -Paskins Team 3 DECEASED -Pritchard Team 3 DECEASED -Quinttaro Team 1 EVACUATED -Quirk Team 3 DECEASED -Rathmell Team 3 DECEASED -Robin Team 2 DECEASED -Roland Team 2 TOWER -Saenz Team 2 DECEASED -Shutte Team 3 DECEASED -Stippa Team 1 DECEASED -Sumpter Team 3 DECEASED -Tadlock Team 3 DECEASED -Tallis Team 2 DECEASED -Tavish Team 2 DECEASED -Tayke Team 1 EVACUATED -Tricka Team 3 DECEASED -Ulland Team 3 DECEASED -Vasker Team 1 DECEASED -Vollmer Team 3 DECEASED -Westlage Team 3 DECEASED -Xian Team 3 DECEASED -Yager Team 1 EVACUATED Enter Security Access Code:Access Granted. [WARNING] PROJECT ABA CASE HISTORIES WARNING: The following material is restricted to Command Level personnel or higher. All those without proper clearance must stop reading at this point. The following are overviews of ABA case histories assembled in random order with all mentions of time or specific order or identity of the subject deleted, in accordance with prior established security procedure. [SELMAK] SUBJECT: Selmak, Vidor BACKGROUND: A new initiate into the Mondite inner circle, he professed to have moral objections to various tactics and objectives of the movement. He was placed in the ABA program because it was simpler and more advantageous to the movement than simply murdering him outright. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [CAYNAN] SUBJECT: Caynan, K.C. BACKGROUND: A guard assigned to the Daedalus base caught while attempting to betray the project and the movement. It was deemed that killing him outright would simply be a waste of resources considering he fits the requirements of an ABA prototype candidate. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA genetic alteration, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: Caynan was never considered a serious contender for the ABA project, just a mass of expendable tissue that conveniently became available. [BLADE] SUBJECT: Blade, Morgan BACKGROUND: Mercenary frequently employed by the Mondite movement. Subject hired for the kidnapping of John Highhill. Afterwards, was suspected of bringing back the wrong man and was taken as a replacement. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [SARTA] SUBJECT: Sarta, Tomik BACKGROUND: Convicted multiple murderer from the Escar system. Subject was obtained post-execution. A substitution of the lethal injection formula administered to him placed him in a death-like state and his body was then smuggled out of the morgue. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [NORAL] SUBJECT: Noral, Sonya BACKGROUND: An attempt to genetically cross a human with a very rare sort of mammalian predator. Potential results: hyperfast reflexes, regenerative healing, heightened senses and killing instinct. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA full implementation COMMENTS: The desired abilities combined with her considerable beauty would have made her a very effective weapon for the Mondite cause. [RASMER] SUBJECT: Rasmer, Jarrit BACKGROUND: Subject was paid to participate in experiment. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA biological, Stage One COMMENTS: Greater caution needs to be taken in order to insure the biological security of the base. [DRAGIL] SUBJECT: Dragil, Norn BACKGROUND: Volunteered for ABA Project after discovering he had a terminal illness. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA biological, Stage One COMMENTS: Subject expended. [FARRDAY] SUBJECT: Farrday, T. BACKGROUND: Assumed name and background, subject believed to be a plant from the Reticulum Intelligence Ministry. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA biological, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: Subject died after approximately 48 hours due to a metabolic incompatibility with her new genetic structure. [LEXXEN] SUBJECT: Lexxen, Rann BACKGROUND: Subject sentenced to death for piracy, volunteered for experiment in exchange for lighter sentence. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA biological, Stage One COMMENTS: Subject expended. [PAGE] SUBJECT: Page, Linnea BACKGROUND: This was an attempt to combine every cybernetic subsystem currently developed into one single AFA candidate. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA Stage One COMMENTS: Such an experiment had never been conducted before. While I knew the chance of success was very low, I was curious to see the results. As for the subject, she had been most uncooperative and was deemed expendable. [MARKO] SUBJECT: Marko, Popul BACKGROUND: Subject was a Mondite scientist instrumental in the design and construction of the cybernetic limb replacements. He volunteered to become an experimental test subject in order to further serve the movement. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [STROM] SUBJECT: Strom, Nestor BACKGROUND: Captain of the Reticulum High Guard ship "Ambassadoria." Discoverer of the first Phyxx spacecraft detected by humanity. Subject mutilated in attack from a reanimated Phyxx soldier. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: Subject demonstrated an extreme lack of gratitude. [HIGHILL] SUBJECT: Highhill, John BACKGROUND: Subject located through a multi-system sweep of medical center computer records. Subject perfectly matched the physical requirements for an AFA candidate. Subject acquired through kidnapping performed by Morgan Blade. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: Subject did not seem suitable for this project at all. There was apparently some sort of error in his medical records. [TREMNOR] SUBJECT: Tremnor, Ard BACKGROUND: Subject was a biologist who had been the recipient of numerous experimental brain implants. Due to his tissue type and history of adapting well to cybernetic implants subject was "recruited" into AFA project. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stage One COMMENTS: Make a note - there shall be no more ABA/AFA test subjects who already have cybernetic implants installed. [LANO] SUBJECT: Lano, Rel BACKGROUND: Subject had numerous types of camouflaged projectile weaponry installed. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stage One COMMENTS: Neuro-implant misfire resulted in malfunction of upper armature servos. Subject's upper extremities became entangled in his jaw and right eye socket. After one hour all attempts to free the armatures had failed as the armatures had locked into position. According to the cybernetics technical readout the armatures unlock automatically when arm extensors are activated, which would have theoretically given the medical team a few seconds to remove the armatures. However, activation of subject's arm extensors resulted in the subject extending both his arms and his head to the point where it became separated from the rest of his body. [DODESKADEN] SUBJECT: Dodeskaden, Berin BACKGROUND: Subject was a self-professed enemy of the Mondite movement, personally responsible for the destruction of over a dozen installations and the deaths of over two hundred members. Subject was captured by the Mondites and placed into the AFA project so that he may be used to advance the movement. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [TRUSTIC] SUBJECT: Trustic, Merl BACKGROUND: Although a loyal member of the Mondite movement, subject was judged too incompetent to be allowed to continue to serve it. Subject allowed Barin Dodeskaden into Mondite installation thereby resulting in its destruction and the deaths of 87 members. As subject matched the tissue type requirements of the AFA project, he was deposited there. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: Nothing more to report. [ESKABERA] SUBJECT: Eskabera, Rod BACKGROUND: Subject acquired through body bank. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA biological, Stage One COMMENTS: Subject attempted to murder me. Thankfully I was able to remotely shut off his internal life support. [MONIK] SUBJECT: Monik, Remarro BACKGROUND: Subject was a mental patient obtained through the cooperation of his Mondite psychologist. Subject has a history of self-mutilation and acting out of violent behavior. This rejection of his own body and desire to commit violent acts marked him as a potential AFA candidate. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [WARNA] SUBJECT: Warna, Linn BACKGROUND: AFA EXPERIMENTATION: Basic AFA offensive packages, limb replacement, internal organ augmentation. COMMENTS: An unfortunate accident. With work she might have been an acceptable AFA prototype candidate. [SOO] SUBJECT: Soo, Union BACKGROUND: Subject was a highly decorated Space Marine from the forces of Nacarat, a prime physical specimen with a detailed technical background and highly trained in all forms of combat. Subject is now officially listed as missing in action. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [DANE] SUBJECT: Dane, Martic BACKGROUND: Subject was an Ensign in the Reticulum merchant fleet. A jump error brought him too close to Daedalus. For security reasons his ship and crew have been eliminated. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stage One and Two COMMENTS: None. [RATHMAN] SUBJECT: Rathman, Blake BACKGROUND: Subject was a member of the lower social class popularly known as "Berserkers" which once populated the eastern sector of the world known as Ashtaroth. Subject matched rare tissue type required for ABA candidacy and discovered through a routine scan of computer files. Since he is a "Berserker," subject will not be missed by any respectable element of his society. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two COMMENTS: None. [ONE] SUBJECT: One, Jonathan BACKGROUND: Subject was an amnesia patient in hospital on Stralea. His name was given to him by the hospital staff. Subject lured out of hospital by a recruited staff member. EXPERIMENTATION: AFA cybernetics, Stages One and Two [SIDIG] SUBJECT: Sidig, Nancy BACKGROUND: Through extensive skin grafts, attempted to create a subject with an epidermal layer that secreted an undetectable but highly toxic substance. EXPERIMENTATION: ABA Stage One COMMENTS: Subject's death seems to be the result of an allergic reaction either to a chemical administered during the operation or to an alloy used in the prosthesis. [] REACTOR STATUS: Reactor Access Code: %_reactor_id_number% ATTENTION: A Class 3 Reactor Alert is in effect. All non-essential personnel are to be evacuated immediately. SITUATION: Preliminary reports indicate the following: CR: An escaped subject from the cellblock has burrowed a tunnel from Cell 2 through the water tanks and into the Reactor Room. Water tank pressure: Below required level. Reactor coolant: Expended. Plasma field temperature: 17.8M K, and increasing. Reactor core: Heated above safe operation level. Producing erratic energy flow. Stress tremors: Occurrences coincide with power surges. Base structural stability: Undermined. Secondary reactor control station: Inoperative. Reactor integrity: Compromised. Radiation leakage: Support Level. Leakage Severity/Support Level: Terminal. Secondary reports follow: CR: So far the intruder has prevented all attempts to manually shut down the system or drive it from the Reactor Room. CR: It killed the entire Third Team! CURRENT STATUS: Reactor Access Code: %_reactor_id_number% Report: CR: The escaped subject demonstrates a marked resistance to the extreme heat and radioactivity of the Reactor Room. It has also been immune to blaster fire and the effects of all manner of weaponry currently brought to bear against it. The only remaining line of defense against the intruder is an automated reactor maintenance robot guarding the reactor airlock. Its final instructions order it not to allow the intruder out of the Reactor Room. ANALYSIS: Inquiry: CR: Providing the frequency and severity of the tremors continue to increase at their current rate, how long until the base is rendered uninhabitable? Response: Less than 11 hours. Inquiry: CR: Providing the power conductors are not taken off-line, how long before the reaction system achieves critical expiration? Response: Counting down: An amount of time not exceeding 17 minutes. Inquiry: CR: Can you suggest a course of action? Response: Affirmative. SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION: Intruder must be evaded or neutralized. Power conductors attached to support pylons now lowered into plasma field. To stabilize reactor, pylons must be individually unlocked from Central Reactor Control Station and raised out of plasma field. Inquiry: CR: Can you calculate my chances? Response: More information required. PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: Indeterminate. [] The Airlock is currently sealed. Locking pattern is in 'two horizontal bar' configuration. The grid is in linear inversion mode. REACTOR STATUS: SITUATION: Support pylons: Disengaged from plasma field. Plasma field temperature: 23.1M K and holding. Temperature exceeds maximum safe shut down range. Reactor coolant: Expended. Estimated time required for unassisted reactor cool down: 4023 days. Due to instability reactor critical expiration inevitable. Time indeterminate. MISSION CALENDAR: [The following dates are recorded according to the Daedalus Mission Calendar. Entries are posted by Commander Wilm.] d0. The Ambassadoria encounters an alien spacecraft: Excerpts from the ship's log of the Ambassadoria- "...This is Captain Strom of the Ambassadoria. We are 21 days out of Stralea, en route to New Freedom's Port. Today while scanning some debris we came across something with a sensor signature very much like a spacecraft. It had no identification beacon and there are no records of any ships lost in this area. It resembles nothing that can be found in the Spotter's Guide but our computer insists that it is a ship. We are changing course to investigate..." "...At first we thought that this ship was nothing but a meteorite because its surface has become coated with so much dust and debris. This is definitely the remains of a ship but unlike anything we- or anyone- has ever seen. It seemingly has no propulsion system, or perhaps it is a propulsion system unlike anything we have. I can only assume that this craft has been produced by an advanced civilization that has never before been encountered. I have assembled a boarding party and we are going aboard." "...This ship is an ancient tomb in space for eight non-human passengers who have been out here for an estimated one hundred thousand years. A preliminary analysis seems to indicate that the craft itself is powered by some manner of gravitic drive. It is completely unlike any technology possessed by the Reticulum. On request from my medical officer we are taking a dead alien specimen aboard for examination..." "...This alien creature looks like a big marble statue. Our medical officer has removed it from its coffin. Remarkably, it is exhibiting signs of life!..." "Many of the crew are dead. This thing tears its way through the structure of the ship the way a mole digs through dirt. Nothing can stop it. Already most of the prime systems have been knocked out. So far everyone who has encountered this thing has been murdered by it. The ship is inoperative and immobile. We have sent a distress signal. But I know that even if it is heard, help cannot reach us in time. The others all realize it, but we don't dare to say it out loud. The truth is that we are all dead men..." "...Only a handful of us left. There is no other option but to take to the lifeboat and destroy the ship..." "...The lifeboat has been sabotaged. I am the last one left alive. When I finish this I will jettison the Black Box and then do what must be done. Every last member of my crew behaved heroically in the face of this danger and conducted themselves befitting the highest commendations of the Reticulum. Let it be known that I accept the sole responsibility for this terrible disaster. This is Captain Strom of the Ambassadoria signing off for the final time." [SELF-DESTRUCT MECHANISM ACTIVATED: BOTH SHIPS DESTROYED] d42. Mondite ships intercept the Ambassadoria distress signal. As they approach the signal's point of origin the signal is jammed and distorted, insuring that it will be heard by no one else. d44. The destroyed hulk of the Ambassadoria, and the Phyxx spacecraft are discovered. d45-351. The spacecraft, alien specimen and forensics are examined. Black Box intercepted. d352-895. The calculations of location of Phyxx homeworld and astronomical corroboration are established. d896. The Prime Paragon orders a covert expedition to the alien homeworld. He christens it Daedalus. d897-1018. Mondites acquire and outfit a special mission customized long range jump freighter, the "Kasenko." d1019. The Kasenko launches, bound for Daedalus. d1143. Kasenko arrives in the Daedalus system. Establishes orbit around Daedalus, launches cartographic satellite. d1145-1148. Cartographic satellite charts surface of Daedalus. The surface of the planet is barren, completely absent of any evidence of an alien civilization. Base team specialists awakened from cryosleep. d1149-1155. Computer analysis of Daedalus surface charts. Numerous potential archeological sites exist beneath the planet's surface. The most promising of these is named Mount Sion. First team prepares. d1156. Base camp established on the rim of the Mount Sion crater at the north pole of Daedalus. d1157-1177. Deployment of equipment and personnel, establishment of preliminary shelters. d1178. The Kasenko successfully performs a calculated hard landing inside the Mount Sion crater. d1179-1268. The superstructure of the Kasenko is dismantled so that the base can be constructed from its raw materials. d1269. Ground is broken to establish the building of the formal base within the side of the Mount Sion crater. d1270-1359. Preliminary excavation of the base interior is completed. d1360-1412. Further construction is delayed when the level of the acid lake inside the crater inexplicably starts to rise. After cresting, the lake level holds steady although it has engulfed over 95 percent of the available land mass inside the crater. d1413. Commander Wilm, leader of the First Team, dies in a construction accident. [The following entries are posted by Security Officer Caynan.] d1414-1540. Miraculously, the construction of the base is completed although it is more than 100 days behind the original mission schedule. d1541-1600. Preliminary archeological work begun. The mouth of the alien necropolis is discovered. This work is supervised by the leader of the second team, Doctor Escher. d1616. The support ship Vaseria arrives in the Daedalus system. It brings new equipment and supplies, two marine dropships to provide security, and the new base commander- Doctor Amet Mastaba. d1631. Doctor Mastaba begins conducting research for the ABA project. d1687. A large statue is discovered blocking the passageway inside the mouth of the alien necropolis. d1688-1702. Numerous attempts are made to move or bypass the statue. All fail. d1703-1733. A separate entrance is drilled into the alien necropolis. d1734-1824. The first interior chamber of the alien necropolis is excavated. d1825-1886. Analysis of initial ABA test subjects begins. d1887. An alien specimen that shows signs of life is transferred from the dig site to the cellblock of the Security Level in the base. [All further entries posted by Technical Officer Amdant.] d1893. First successful ABA project prototype created. Security Officer Caynan and Prisoner Dane captured in an attempt to hijack a dropship from the landing platform. d1895. Alien specimen escapes from cellblock. Class 3 Reactor Alert declared. Base evacuated. No palm detected against reader. Access Denied! [LOGBOOK] I know what they will do to me. They will mutilate my flesh and make it into something inhuman. They can completely alter the state of my mind. But they shall not break my spirit. I am determined. I swear with every ounce of my will that who I am, my internal nature, cannot be twisted or cut out of me. No matter what occurs I will remain unchanged. [HARDSUIT] %time%: I have found a machine in the base's main control room that has encased me in some kind of armored suit. It appears to be pressurized and airtight. [KILLDANE] %time%: I found Dane, or what was left of him. I put him out of his misery just like he asked. May he rest in peace. [BIKE] %time%: In the machine shop below the base's main control room they have assembled some sort of aircraft. I have no idea whether or not it is spaceworthy, but it is presently inoperable. [PIM1] %time%: There are entries in my journal, but I have not made them. Or does this device record my unconscious thoughts? I do not understand what has been done to me. Something is not right. [PANELF1] %time%: The flashing sequences on the broken electrical panel are not random. They are indicators. [PANELF5] %time%: I need to reestablish the connection of the circuits- bypassing the now damaged door lock circuit- in order to get the power back on and open the door. [PANELON] %time%: I cannot get the panel off. My fingers are too wide to get a grip on the edge of it. [LOOKPIC] %time%: I don't recognize the girl in the photo and I don't think it belongs to my one-armed friend. But she must mean something to someone here. [ARMOFF] %time%: The prisoner in the cell next to mine lost his arm trying to escape. His force bars must be set to a much more lethal intensity than in my cell. [CELLDOOR] %time%: I am far stronger than a normal human being, but not strong enough to pull the doors of the cellblock more than a few inches apart. They are locked up tight. But I caused some kind of short in an electrical panel next to the doors. [READCAYN] %time%: Caynan- the prisoner in the cell next to mine- was once one of the people who did this to me. Now he is a mutilated and insane freak. [SEEGUN] %time%: I can see a gun inside of cell number two. I could get it if only I knew how to shut off the force bars. There's a tunnel burrowed into the floor of the cell and its occupant is gone. I wonder where it leads. [READDANE] %time%: Am I the person in cell three that Dane wrote about in his journal? If I am, then they tried to rescue me. Maybe Dane can help me escape, if he's still alive - and if I can find him. [RADIOREF] %time%: The voices over the radio said 'another prisoner' has escaped. Who are those reinforcements coming to kill- me or him? [SCANFAIL] %time%: There is some kind of optical palm reader in the room outside the cellblock, but my semi-robotic hand won't activate it. [SCANF2] %time%: Since my hands are now more machine than human, the reader doesn't even recognize them as hands. I need the hand of an authorized person to open the door. [NEEDHAND] %time%: The hand must be in the scanner at the same time that I reactivate it's security clearance in order for this to work. [FINDFORK] %time%: I might be able to use this utensil for something - and I don't mean to eat with. [SCREAM] %time%: I heard a cry of agony from beyond my cell. A guard? Another prisoner? [SEESELF] %time%: My body is some sort of machine. But I can tell that I was once human. I am a cyborg. Who made me this way? Why did they? How could I have let them? [FLUTE] %time%: I know how to play the flute. I can play songs that I don't remember ever hearing before yet they echo in the back of my mind. It is the closest thing that I have to a memory of my past life. Perhaps if I listen more closely I will remember. [MYBOOK] %time%: Did I write what is in this book here in my cell? I don't remember writing it. It sort of sounds like me. It's hard to tell without any basis of comparison. [INJECT] %time%: That robot put me to sleep. They could have killed me while I was unconscious, but they didn't. They must want me alive. I wish I could take some sort of comfort in that. Perhaps I could if I knew who 'they' were. [SHOCKBAR] %time%: Whoever made me what I am intends to keep me as a prisoner. How very strange. What type of crime is it where the punishment is being made into a cyborg? [QUAKE] %time%: These tremors feel extremely severe. Why isn't anyone coming to check on me in person? Something has gone wrong here and I am in danger. Is there anybody out there? [MEDICUSE] %time%: I can feel the spray from this bottle reinvigorating my flesh. [MEDICDON] %time%: The medical spray now appears to be empty. [TEMPMON1] %time%: This is obviously some sort of control device. It doesn't seem to be responding to anything that I do, though. Maybe I'll give it a try again at some later date. [TEMPMON2] %time%: I bet this monitor is somehow connected to the adjacent tunnel. [TEMPMON3] %time%: This monitor must be powered by the same source as the alien city. [AIRLOCK1] %time%: The airlock is secured by some sort of sophisticated lock mechanism activated by the entry of some coded pattern. [AIRLOCK2] %time%: The Marines must have changed the airlock code! [LANDBOTS] %time%: The landing pad is protected by four armed bots. They are small and very difficult to hit. [TANK1] %time%: There's something in here. I can smell it. It's putrid. It must be dead. [TANK2] %time%: Whatever this other escaped prisoner was, it sure made hell out of these tanks. Maybe this thing and I are on the same side. [ROLLIVE] %time%: I'm willing to let that cowardly tower guard live. I hope I won't regret this decision. [ROLDEAD] %time%: I didn't have to kill Roland the tower guard, but I did anyway. This whole situation is too unfamiliar and confusing. I trust no one. [SHOTDOWN] %time%: Those ships were full of soldiers who would've recaptured me, had I let them land. But now that I've shot those ships down, how do I get off of this rock? [NEEDGUN] %time%: I need a weapon if I'm going to get past the sentry robot in that hallway. [MADMAN] %time%: Who could perform these experiments on living people? This Doctor Mastaba is an inhuman psychopath. [ORFILES] %time%: If I understand this correctly, one of the people listed in these files has to be me. I wonder which one. [RTRALARM] %time%: If someone doesn't go in there and stabilize the reactor, it's going to blow. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around who's qualified for the job. [BIKEMON] %time%: This experimental vehicle sounds fantastic. Perhaps if I could find a powerful enough battery I could get off the planet! [ESHMES] %time%: That woman trapped in the place they call the Dig Site may be the only ally I have on this world. I have to find her before Mastaba does. [GARAGE] %time%: It looks like there's another way out of here through the garage, but it appears to have been sealed off. [EVAC] %time%: If Mastaba stayed behind to finish his operation on Dane then either he has his own way to get off the planet, or there is another ship coming to pick him up. [REACTOL] %time%: My actions in the Reactor Room were only a delaying tactic. This place is going to blow, and I need to be as far away from here as possible when it happens. [POWEROUT] %time%: The power is out in the lower corridor. By the time I find my way back it may be out all over the base. In that case the only life support available will be what I'm already wearing. I have to be careful. [ELEV] %time%: According to the elevator schematic several levels of the base are inaccessible. [MAST2] %time%: That Mastaba put me together in such a way that he has almost complete control of my mind, body and senses. That makes him too dangerous to live. [PLATBOTS] %time%: There are four offensive robots on the landing platform programmed to attack me whenever I approach. This entire place is designed to kill me! [LEDGBOTS] %time%: The bots that float along the ledge are similar to the ones on the landing platform. They track movement and are a bit slow to fire. I can outmaneuver them. [BSNBOTS] %time%: There are more shooting robots in the basin. My captors couldn't have known I'd have made it all the way here. That means that all these robots were put here to guard against something else. [FLUFFY] %time%: This creature can't possibly be one of Mastaba's creations. It must be one of the native lifeforms of this planet. If Mastaba has been using the biology of this world to create new biological weapons, it's no wonder he has a menagerie of nightmares locked up in his deep freeze. [SHIPWRCK] %time%: This must be the wreckage of one of the two dropships I shot down. [ARTIFACT] %time%: I have no idea what this strange cube can be but perhaps it could be useful. After all, some of the same technology that went into it is now inside me. [TEMPLEWT] %time%: The strange markings on the inside of this place could be pictures or writing. Perhaps a mixture of both. I wish I could read them. [ZIPTRIP] %time%: The artifact enables me to teleport across open space. [STATUE] %time%: This large sphere seems to be the centerpiece of this whole room. I wonder what it is. Why is it here? And what are the strange patterns around it? They look like a key of some kind. [WARHEAD] %time%: This warhead still appears to be primed and hot. Somehow I can recognize that, although I have no memory of how I know this. [TONFA] %time%: This marine weapon can be used as a gun or a club. Very handy. [BLASTDS] %time%: That woman Escher must be behind these doors somewhere. How do I get past them? [DSMON] %time%: The gunnery station of the dropship still appears to be functional. Hopefully it won't blow up in my face. [TUMDED] %time%: I feel that under different circumstances Tumolt and I could've been comrades. I wonder how much Mastaba's soldiers really know about what he's doing. [BLOCKS] %time%: These huge stone blocks must be part of the architecture of the ancient alien civilization that once lived here. It doesn't look any more alien than I do. [PARGON] %time%: The Mondites follow this guy? He's a complete lunatic! No wonder everything around here is so crazy. [METESH] %time%: This must be the woman known as Dr. Escher. I'm lucky I got to meet her at all. By the looks of her, she doesn't have long to live. There's no way for me to get her out of here, and nothing I could do for her if I did. Damn you, Mastaba! [CTOMB] %time%: There is an alien sarcophagus that appears to be cracked. The last thing I need is to have to deal with another of those alien monster things. [TFIELD] %time%: There appears to be some kind of force field protecting the body inside the sarcophagus. It appears to be holding something. [TKEY] %time%: I have no idea what this thing is, but if they buried the alien with it protected by a force field, it must have some sort of significance. [TOMPUZ] %time%: There is some sort of color coded control on the sarcophagus. The diamond shape on the top stays constant. It must be some kind of guide or indicator. [NOKEY] %time%: This tunnel looks like some kind of alien installation. I wonder what operates it, and what operations it performs. [TROOM] %time%: There's an entire army of dead aliens in here. Or maybe they're not dead, judging by what happened with my friend from Cell #2. [TRANSL] %time%: Escher's translator device is capable of deciphering the alien runes in that cave. I'm glad she gave it to me, as it should prove most useful. [ALIENWR] %time%: Even though I've only scratched the surface of their history, I feel as if I already understand the Phyxx better than anyone else could. In a very real way I'm the last of their race. [SHRIMP] %time%: These floating parasitic creatures appear to be pretty dangerous. When they curl up, they are virtually impervious to harm. [ORBATT] %time%: This is a strange-looking battery. It appears to be similar to the one I have in my body. [MSBATT] %time%: It seems that I use the same type of battery used to run this flying vehicle. I suspect I'll need all the power I can get. [TRMON] %time%: This pillar seems to be the centerpiece of the room. I wonder what its function is. [TUNPUZ] %time%: This thing in the central pillar of the tunnel room appears to be some kind of alien keyboard. [LEXAL] %time%: The longer I spend in this place, the more I feel at home here. It's almost as if I am no longer a part of the human race and that here I have found my true birthright. [ZEROG] %time%: I could get through the place if I had some kind of propulsion system. [LEADER] %time%: Even though I came into his world as an invader, killing one of his soldiers, the alien leader Gen treated me as if I was one of his own. He has entrusted me with the future of his race. If I fail him, perhaps I will be failing myself. His instructions were clear: Go to the Gravity Ring. Clear it of debris and open it. Then get to the surface portal. Use whatever conveyance I can find, and save myself. [ACPUZ] %time%: The darkened spaces in this grid must be where the power has been deactivated. If I could just figure out this pattern, I could get them turned back on. [LITCITY] %time%: The city is beautiful. I wish I had the time to get down there somehow and explore it. [GTUBE] %time%: I need to align these rings in such a way that the gravity ring is cleared of all this floating debris. [ESHGON] %time%: Someone took away Escher! The Phyxx didn't touch her before and they had plenty of time to get rid of her. Mastaba's troops must've gotten Escher. If they had killed her they would have just left her body behind. Since there's no body here, Escher must still be alive. If Mastaba has more troops here then that probably means another ship has landed. I may have to fight my way back! [SEALED] %time%: The hardsuit machine airlock won't open. I've been sealed into the Dig Site! The Phyxx must have had another way out... [ASHLD] %time%: This device the Drogg had is some sort of shield like the one that covers them in the sarcophagus. It appears to be stronger than the armored hardsuits, and seems to provide life support for me! [ABATT] %time%: This alien battery has a super-powerful charge left inside it. That will come in handy. [LEXID] %time%: Escher's final gift to me was the chance to find out who I really am. Now that I know I can't say it means all that much. I'm not that person anymore, and I never will be again. [XCAPE] %time%: There's no jump drive on this thing and I'm light years away from the fringe of the Reticulum. I doubt there's even another habitable planet in this system. But if I stay here I know I'm dead for certain. Odds are my body will never be found. Even if it is found there'll be no other evidence left to prove that the events of these last few hours actually happened. But I've lived through worse, only I'm damned if I can remember it. If it turns out I don't make it, all I ask of whoever finds me is that you don't bury me with any Mondites and that you say a little prayer for my extraterrestrial brethren over my grave. I wouldn't have traded these last few moments of life for anything. [DROGGONE] %time%: The alien creature is gone! There's no way it could have fit through the hardsuit machine airlock. Where did it go?! [GAVEEMED] %time%: I don't think this medicine will be enough to keep Escher alive for long. There's nothing else I can do. [NOEMED] %time%: Escher is not going to make it, with or without medicine. I have no idea what could go wrong with my cybernetic body. If I have any kind of chance of getting off of this rock alive, I know I'm going to have to keep it in the best condition that I can. [MEDOUT] %time%: If I had any medicine left I could give it to Escher. From the looks of her injuries she'd need a lot more than that if she was to pull through. [KILLLEAD] %time%: I respect this civilization but I don't have the luxury of being able to learn any more about it. I can't even tell my friends from my enemies in the human race anymore. To protect myself, I had to kill the leader alien. I can't afford to take any chances. [DANELIVE] %time%: I couldn't bring myself to grant Dane's request. Maybe Mastaba could still do something for him. All I could give him is death. Where there's life, there's hope. [BATTLOW] %time%: The charge of the battery has run down too low. It can't power the ship. [MGONE] %time%: Even if it costs me my life I'm going to find that bastard Mastaba, and I'll make him suffer so much he'll wish he was a test subject on his own operating table. [ALWEP] %time%: There is some sort of super-powerful killing machine inside me. What am I? [ALWEP2] %time%: The alien battery enables me to use the alien gun Mastaba put inside me. This ought to be fun. [READMES] %time%: With Escher's access number, I may be able to access Mastaba's files and figure out my original identity. [WEAPONSFAIL] %time%: Hmmm... The energy field produced by this reflective suit appears to be affecting my gun. [FIDOCLUE] %time%: Although I have knocked the creature out, I seem to have done him no physical harm. What recuperative powers this beast must have! [ALBATIN] %time%: This new battery is fantastic! I can feel the energy flow throughout my entire body. My left arm tingles -- I wonder what that means? [PFDONCE] %time%: This new weapon is incredibly powerful. But I am much weaker -- must use this weapon sparingly. [BIKEWEAK] %time%: Apparently, there is not enough energy left to operate the ICARUS. Perhaps I should have used my energy resources more wisely. My only hope is that the alien leader will supply me with more energy. [FLUTE2] %time%: I can't remember anything! Playing the flute is not triggering my memories. Yet there MUST be a way to restore my mind... [COMBATCLUE] %time%: I have noticed a significant response problem whenever I repeat the same combat motion. Why should this be? Is it an energy problem, or are my internal systems badly engineered? I must remember not to repeat my tactics while in battle. [BADFEELING] %time%: I cannot bring myself to place this battery within this vehicle. It is as if part of me cries out, forbidding me to take such an action. [BIKEWARNING] %time%: I cannot escape in this vehicle. The record which I read earlier said that it was incapable of leaving this planet, that its design was fatally flawed. [KNOWGRAVRING] %time%: My only hope is to repair the gravity ring, the one spoken of in the alien writings. That would allow this crippled ship to reach deep space, and save my life! [FINISHJOB] %time%: I cannot do it. I cannot power up this vehicle and escape, knowing that I have not yet fulfilled the instructions of the alien master. I cannot betray them, for they are a part of me. [DOGRAVRING] %time%: Having read the alien writings, I now understand. By repairing the gravity ring, I shall make it possible to escape using the crippled ship. Thus I save both the aliens and my own miserable life! [LOWBATT] %time%: My personal battery charge is dangerously low. I must find a new power source -- soon! [TOOLOWQ] %time%: I can't use the remaining energy to heal myself. There must be some sort of automatic battery reserve system, preventing me from using that last portion of energy. [] ENTRY 1. This is Ensign Merik Dane, of the Reticulum Merchant Ship Stolanoi Agrippus reporting. I am writing this account in the unlikely event that it should ever find its way into the hands of the proper authorities. No doubt they are watching from the camera in my cell as I write. Fifteen days ago we left Stralea bound for Bormag carrying medical supplies. Our trip had been uneventful until we experienced a small electrical fire on one of the subdecks that was quickly extinguished. What we didn't know at the time was that this fire had caused a power surge which traveled through our entire subsystems network and wiped a vital portion of data from our jump calculator. The omission of data was so slight that it was not detected by our redundant systems until after we had already made the jump to hyperspace. The strain placed upon our engines by the improperly calculated jump was so great that it took nearly thirty-six hours to power them down once the jump was underway. It is possible that while in misjump we passed near some sort of spatial singularity which slingshotted us far beyond our normal jump capacity. When we finally returned to normal space we had not only wandered off all charts but we were also critically low on fuel. It is possible- although extremely unlikely- that RMF Rescue and Recovery could have calculated our position this far. There were no occupied planets within the range of our detection and our jump driver was rendered inoperable. We set course for the nearest solar system. We subsisted on minimal rations and power, broadcasting a distress signal. After eleven days of boosting our transmission to its maximum there was no response. Then it appeared as if a miracle had occurred- as we neared a gas giant we received confirmation that our distress signal had been picked up. We celebrated, believing help was on the way. The next day we were attacked by two small military type dropships. We did not intend to become the first RMF ship in history to surrender to pirates, so we fought back. The first dropship was destroyed but we lost our weapons and propulsion to a missile barrage from the second one. Seven of the twenty-seven members of our crew died in the battle including Lieutenant Lin Nance. We were dead in the water. It was then that we learned the identity of our attackers- Mondites. We were boarded and eleven more members of our crew died in the room by room combat that followed over the next several hours. Among the dead was our Captain Lison Rymerac and our First Officer Findley Smiles. This sad set of circumstances left me in command of the survivors. Two more men died as we attempted to reach the lifeboat. Our only means of escape cut off, and facing a full company of armored marines I gave the order to surrender. Three of the men directly disobeyed my order and were subsequently killed by the attackers. During that exchange another man attempting to surrender was also killed. The mercenaries then proceeded to raid a portion of our cargo, took the remaining three of us onto their ship and blew what was left of the Agrippus into wreckage. She was seventeen months away from being decommissioned. When I returned from this voyage in three months I was to be married to my fiance, Launa. I don't believe either one of us will be making it. [] ENTRY 2. The leader of this base is a man whom I believe to be a surgeon. I have seen him only once, when we were first brought here. He seemed very unconcerned with our presence, like he was preoccupied with something. The base seems to be a strange mixture of digging equipment, medical facilities and little else. The world we are on is called Daedalus. It is certainly beyond the reach of the Reticulum. It has probably never even been charted. Apparently, it is run by an independent group of Mondites who are carrying out some sort of secret operation here. They obviously saw our accidental presence as a security threat. The only thing I do not understand is why they have left us alive. They must not suspect us of spying because none of us have been questioned. The Reticulum has historically been highly unresponsive to the taking of political prisoners or hostages. I am certain we shall be quite worthless as a bargaining chip. But we must be of some use to them. As seen during the last moments of the Agrippa, simple mercy is not something that is characteristic among Mondites. [] ENTRY 3. It is impossible to judge the passage of time here. There is no view of the outside and our lights are kept on constantly. We sleep in shifts at varying times and lengths. It is useless to count them. We have been here for days. Could it be weeks? Today the three of us were escorted under armed guard and taken to some sort of medical center and physically examined. Once all of us were pronounced "suitable" we were injected with some sort of chemical compound. In one man- a Cargo Handling Specialist named Klima- it caused a devastating pain which left him writhing on the floor. He just lay there and could not get up, paralyzed with agony. In the other one- Parks, a Systems Maintenance Tech- it caused what must've been horrifying hallucinations. He looked around constantly, sometimes dodging things that weren't there, waving his arms. I just sat there waiting to find out what would happen to me. A strange calm just came over me as I watched the other two go through their internal tortures. After several hours it was over and they took us back to our cells. [] ENTRY 4. More tests the same as before. I saw the surgeon again. The Base Leader. He said the other results were inconclusive. Parks begged them not to inject him again. He fought them. I wanted to help him but by then my injection had kicked in. All I could do was sit there passively as they forcibly injected him with the chemicals. This round of hallucinations were evidently more terrifying than the first, though. They had barely left the room when he began shrieking at the top of his lungs. He screamed and screamed until his voice completely broke and then he was reduced to making these low guttural hisses. Klima had long since passed out from the pain, so I was the only one in the room to watch what happened next. I tried speaking to Parks several times but he never once answered me. He just rolled around and around on the floor until I noticed the blood. It wasn't until the disturbance brought the guards back that I saw what had really happened. Parks had clawed out his eyes. He was laughing like an idiot when they took him away. It was the last time I saw him. Parks' cell is now empty. Only Klima and I remain. [] ENTRY 5. The leader of the base is a surgeon. His name is Mastaba. I demanded to know where Parks was. His only response was, "In the lake." The lake? He was utterly undisturbed by the fact that I am a Merchant officer. Or that he has killed crewmen and destroyed a ship of the RMF and interfered with the Circuit Reticulum. The mercs had read our records. The Reticulum would merely assume that we were lost in the jump. He looked at me from behind the blood red mask he wore- "I have claimed your ship, its crew and their respective remains by rights of salvage. That having been done, you are now my property." [] ENTRY 6. The medical tests are becoming increasingly torturous now. I was sedated and taken to the medical room. There all I remember is seeing some kind of robot. Then nothing but a dream about Launa. Her face, her dress, just like on the night the picture was taken. When I awoke I had been returned to my cell. Only now I feel like my insides have been crushed and I am marked with a series of scars across my midsection. Klima does not respond when I call to him in his cell. Maybe they have him now. No one will tell me what they are doing to us, but I already know. Exploratory surgery. But why? They've tortured us all on a regular basis but they've yet to ask us a single question. [] ENTRY 7. I was taken back to the Medical Room, strapped on to the operating table and injected with something that made me increasingly lightheaded. This time Mastaba was there in person, only I couldn't see him. I could only hear his voice telling me that this was the last of the preliminary examinations. If I completed this final test I would be ready. He didn't tell me for what. I demanded to know where Klima was. His response was- "He died on that table you're lying on. Now he's with your other friend. In the lake." Before I could say anything I saw the arm of the robot come down over my body. I felt completely detached and unable to move as it began to burn an incision into my stomach. Mastaba stepped forward and reached inside of me. He turned to me and asked "This is just the beginning. I promise you there'll be a lot to see. Would you like to stay awake?" I stared into his eyes for what seemed like hours. "No." I whispered. When I awoke I was back in my cell alone. [] ENTRY 8. There is a new prisoner in the cell across from me. I cannot see him. He is lying unconscious in his bunk. At first I thought it might be Klima or Parks. Maybe another crewman from the Agrippa had managed to survive. But it wasn't, I have never seen this man before. [] ENTRY 9. There is something very large being moved into the cell next to mine. Parks must really be gone if they are putting his old cell to use. Whatever this thing is, it is enormously heavy judging by the number of people and the equipment they need to move it. Supervising this operation is another Mondite scientist. There is dirt on her uniform, as if she'd been digging. I heard someone call her Doctor Escher. Ordering the men for her is the head guard that lurks around this cellblock. His name is Caynan. Whatever is going into that other cell certainly sounds like it's a major security problem. [] ENTRY 10. Just starting to get my strength back from Doctor Mastaba's damned examinations. I saw Caynan walking through the cellblock. "What's in that cell?" I asked him. "Just something that'll probably kill us all. Nothing for you to worry about." [] ENTRY 11. The man in Cell Three is either still unconscious or he keeps to himself. He does not respond when I call out to him. Over the last few days I've seen Caynan walking around here looking increasingly nervous. I try to catch his attention, perhaps speak with him again, but he is all business. Still, there is something different about him. His expression does not have the cold acceptance of the other guards. He is intensely in thought and each movement is a jolt of released tension. How pathetic that my entire existence has been reduced to brief glimpses of people in the outside world. For all I know I am imagining these little things in an attempt to occupy my mind. To save it from the heart-stopping emptiness of imprisonment. I must hold onto the hope that I shall see Launa again. For the sake of my sanity, I must hold onto that hope. [] ENTRY 12. "The camera is off." said the voice, and I was surprised to see Caynan standing outside my cell. "They'll never let you out of here. Never alive, you know that?" I nodded. Caynan's eyes stared out into nowhere- "I've seen the things they're finding. More of them everyday. Nightmarish. I mean, I thought what we do here was terrible enough. Do you want to get out?" I was overwhelmed in confusion and disbelief. Caynan stared at me and I could see the realization come over him. He was thinking maybe he had made a mistake, that I might try to save my life by turning him in. As an officer and a gentleman I never considered this as an option. When I cleared my head from the shock of what he was saying I managed to give the approximation of a nod. "They say you're a flight officer." Caynan said hopefully. "Ensign, RMF." I replied, snapping to attention and saluting him with my Academy best. It was his turn to give me a strange look. "Can you pilot a dropship, like the one you came here on?" I could. "There's a dropship out on the platform. She was brought in on autopilot for maintenance. The crew and marines on board are all in cold storage. You need to understand, we only get one shot at this." My ears strained to hear anyone else that might be listening. "When?" I said. "First we need your new neighbor. He's the chosen one. That's why you're nothing but an autopsy waiting to happen. They won't think twice about killing us, but maybe they'll want him back bad enough, that..." He sounded less than convinced by his own words and I sure didn't know what he was talking about. "Maybe." was all I could manage when he looked at me for a reply. We both laughed nervously. At that strange and uneasy moment we became like old friends. Jailer and prisoner closer than brothers, comrades in arms about to go into battle together maybe for the last time. "My personal access code number is %_access_id1_to_match%%_access_id2_to_match%%_access_id3_to_match%%_access_id4_to_match%%_access_id5_to_match%." he said, "You might be able to use it to get out of a bad spot. But let's hope it never comes down to that." Before I even thought about it I was giving him my last possession- the picture of Launa. "Who's this, the wife?" he asked. "Not yet but she will be. You missed that during the search when they brought me here." I could be going home! This absolute miracle was so unlikely and absurd to me that I started giggling like a schoolboy. Caynan nodded like he understood and solemnly put the picture away without saying a word. He reached in between the bars of the cell and put something in my hand. Just as he did I heard the doors to the cellblock open and I quickly put it behind my back. Three more guards came into the Cellblock and opened the door to Cell Three. The man inside walked out with guns pointed at him. Holding a hand in front of his weakened eyes the new man slowly walked out of the Cellbock. The guards followed. As Caynan went he looked back at me. He flashed me the sign of five. It wasn't until the cellblock doors closed again that I allowed myself to even notice the reassuring familiar metallic heaviness in my right hand. A blaster. It was fully charged. [] ENTRY 13. We failed. I have been recaptured and Caynan is also a prisoner here now. The man from Cell Three has been the subject of a monstrous experiment. He is no longer human. I don't know what he is now. For some period of time they have simply been beating me into unconsciousness whenever I show signs of awakening. I suppose they've just gotten tired of it now. [] ENTRY 14. Today the guards came for Caynan. He fought as best he could but in the end they took him away. No sign of life from Cell Three. [] ENTRY 15. Caynan has been jabbering like a lunatic ever since they brought him back. He keeps screaming some conversation with his mother that must be going on inside his head. I can't see into his cell from here. [] ENTRY 16. I was awakened by the sound of an explosion in the Cellblock. Two of the guards went to look in on Caynan. From what I heard he must have mauled one of them really bad. [] ENTRY 17. Caynan continues to get worse. All he does is growl and howl like an animal. [] ENTRY 18. The guards have just told me that now it is my turn to be taken back to the Operation Room. This journal has reached an end. No matter what occurs, know that I always loved you, Launa. If I should somehow get the chance to write again I wi... [] END [] [] OCCUPANT: This test subject was originally a biologist who was the recipient of numerous brain implants. Tissue type tests suggested he would be compatible with cybernetics. [] SPECIES: Human. [] ORIGIN: Classified. [] PROJECT: ABA Project. [] ORDERED BY: Dr. A. Mastaba [] NOTES: After having all four limbs removed subject underwent cellular alterations in order to prevent prosthetic rejection. A mutation resulted, leaving him covered in tumor-like growths. Experiment aborted before prosthetic implanted. Subject has been lobotomized. [] SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Subject is to be kept frozen until such time as its tissue type needs to be compared to that of a possible reoccurrence of the mutation in another experimental subject. ONE MAN ASSAULT FIGHTER FLIGHT LOG compiled by Durrell Zane TEST FLIGHT ONE: The initial test flight of the One Man Assault Fighter was a fly-around along the interior of the Mount Sion crater. It lasted 8.1 seconds. Afterwards, our test pilot reported a sluggishness in the pitch and roll of the aircraft. TEST FLIGHT TWO: After moving the alignment of the tilt directional stabilizers to full forward, it was decided the second test run would see how well the problem had been corrected. The pilot ran the craft through a series of shimmies, rolls and aerial sideways skids. After fifteen minutes, it was judged that the problem had been corrected. The flight continued for another seventeen minutes. At one moment the craft broke out over the top of the Mount Sion crater and swung back down into it. According to our orders, we were not to stray from the crater but our test pilot's enthusiasm must've gotten the better of him. He was severely reprimanded by Base Control. TEST FLIGHT THREE: After fitting the craft with an early version of its canopy, it was time to do some speed tests. At Mach .4, the canopy tore itself off. Miraculously, the pilot was able to stay onboard the craft and managed to safely slow it down. At this point, the remainder of the flight was called off. The pilot reported that he had not even revved the engine up to one quarter of its full power. TEST FLIGHT FOUR: This time, a specialized wind-resistant, airtight and pressurized version of the canopy was installed. During this test flight the canopy held. The pilot demonstrated that the craft is capable of achieving a speed many times the speed of sound. Its exact top speed was not detected because of a guidance problem. At high speed, a massive vibration shook through the chassis of the vehicle and it hopelessly distorted the instrumentation readings. Based upon observations and examinations of the craft, it was postulated that it could reach escape velocity. TEST FLIGHT FIVE: After the previous flight, the secondary velocity dampener and circumulator of the Kasenko were stripped down and installed into the craft and all of its instrumentation was hard calibrated. The exterior canopy was again reinforced and made heat resistant. During this test flight, the pilot attempted to perform a full vertical take off. The objective of the flight was to measure the functional ceiling of the craft. The one-man assault fighter was completely out of sight within a few seconds of take-off. Twenty-eight minutes later the craft returned. The pilot reported that he got disoriented once he "completely lost planetface up there" and returned to the base. Instrumentation confirmed the craft was completely beyond the outer atmosphere of Daedalus, but not at stable orbital distance. The pilot took more than three times the duration of the ascent in returning to the surface of Daedalus. Heat resistance of the craft is one of the things which has not been severely tested yet. TEST FLIGHT SIX: The craft was prepped for its first orbital test flight. Once aware of the astounding capabilities of its power source, we were anxious to see if its limitations were as boundless as our imagination. Our test pilot hardsuited up and climbed aboard the vehicle. The craft would be out of radio contact for roughly half of the flight, so we knew this was a big risk we were taking. If something were to go wrong on the other side of Daedalus, we were not equipped for a rescue or recovery mission of any sort. We cheered as we watched her take off and speed out of sight. Eight minutes later, we received the radio signal we had feared - the vehicle was malfunctioning. Despite our calculations, it did not have the power to achieve orbit. Something was preventing it from achieving stable orbit. At that point, communications with the ship were broken. Minutes later, there was a light in the sky like the fiery tail of a comet. It was headed straight for the Mount Sion crater. No one knows how the pilot got the craft onto the landing platform. The sickening echo of it slamming into the metal rung on for long minutes afterward. It finally faded as the flames were extinguished. Then a noise rose up from the clouds of exhaust- the sound of the servo-mechanism opening the canopy. Our test pilot removed his helmet and issued this report: "Damn, that is one sweet ride." Remarkably, the craft came out of it almost as well as our test pilot. The structural damage was all fairly superficial, most of the other secondary repair work has already been completed. The only problem remains the battery powering the engine, which either completely drained or more likely decharged when the electrical system aboard the craft became superheated during re-entry. Until we somehow obtain another battery capable of holding at least 375 units of charge - highly unlikely, seeing the first was a more than one hundred thousand year old archeological find - the one-man assault fighter project remains permanently grounded. [] A security breech of the airlock has occurred. To reestablish base integrity the airlock has been resealed. The new locking pattern is in positive O-ring configuration. The grid is in x-y emmulation mode. PROJECT NOTES COMPILED BY MASTABA, Doctor, Acting Base Commander AFA PROJECT: This project was initiated by the Prime Paragon on d96 (Daedalus Mission Calendar) to develop a prototype Assassin Fully Augmented. The typical AFA instrument will be a near perfect physical specimen fitted with a complete range of cybernetics -- a walking arsenal that will (once the final stages of development have been completed) be able to mingle undetected and interact in a human-normal population. The AFA series of man devices will fulfill an important role in the advancement of the Mondite movement- carrying out a variety of missions including but not limited to security, espionage and political assassinations within and beyond the environment of the Reticulum. This glorious goal heralds the first true steps on our path of self-determined evolution. The AFA Project will be carried out in four stages. Stage One involves the successful development of a fully integrated cybernetic organism. A desirable AFA candidate will be resistant to prosthetic rejection with a metabolism that can withstand extreme chemical and surgical treatments. Augmentations will endow the subject with extra-human strength, endurance and reaction time. Simultaneously keeping the subjects safe and the installation secure will no doubt present base personnel with numerous unexpected challenges. A secondary line of research during this stage of the project is to expand upon the previously developed genetic engineering techniques of the RF427 Project as well as the ABA (Assassin Biologically Augmented) project. This will benefit both projects immeasurably. It will enable us to develop a more robust candidate through progressive gene-swapping. Elaborate DNA/RNA mapping will alert us to potential candidate deficiencies so that developmental problems can be immediately addressed. Stage Two will move our candidates through a series of treatments that will completely wipe their memories. Currently an experimental surgical technique is being considered for this phase of the project, but it is an extremely delicate procedure. If it leads to the development of unwanted side effects, we are equipped to switch to the standard electroshock method. However, if this is achieved, this will no doubt leave subjects in a highly stressed and disoriented state. It is at this point that a subject will be the most dangerous and difficult to control. Various mimetic analog insignia will be implanted and recalled to indicate the level of success achieved in each candidate during this stage. At this stage there may also be additional data implants designed to speed up the candidate's progress through the third stage. Stage Three involves relocating candidates from this base to another installation to participate in a broad-based training program ranging from use of military hardware to Mondite philosophy to covert actions. At this stage candidates will be turned over to the hands of other units. Stage Four involves the full physical and electronic camouflage of all prosthetics, plastic surgery for the purposes of establishing new identities, specialized customization, maintenance and upgrade refitting. Various elements of the camouflage being developed for the AFA project have yet to be fully and successfully implemented. This stage will most likely occur at whatever particular base of operation an instrument is assigned. If initial operations are successful, Daedalus will become an assembly plant and preliminary staging area for all future AFA candidates, due to its extreme isolation and the fact that its existence is unknown to the Reticulum. PROGRESS REPORT ONE: I find it somewhat startling that the implications for the advancement of the Mondite movement which are inherent in the AFA Project are not yet recognized. The unification of man and technology represents a liberation from the flesh- a heretofore unattainable state that is central to teachings of the Prime Paragon. I shall demonstrate this more clearly once this project has been taken to its successful conclusion. PROGRESS REPORT TWO: So far the preparation for creating the first AFA candidates has gone well. Out of 260 potential test subjects we have determined that 13 will be suitable for First Stage implementation. This is significantly higher than the original estimated figure of two percent. As of this writing all non-suitable test subjects have been expended. PROGRESS REPORT THREE: After a fairly substantial amount of deliberation I have finally decided upon a suitable form of mimetic analog insignia. My mother was an orchestral flutist and one of my earliest childhood memories is watching her perform. I have programmed the biological operative instructions for several of her favorite pieces into an RNA-Doppler chip that will be implanted into all Stage Two AFA candidates. That way it will be a fairly easy matter to determine if subjects have been successfully mindwiped- they will be able to play the flute. PROGRESS REPORT FOUR: Today, I have performed the first of the operations. A wondrous new age has begun. I have witnessed the torturous, bloody intercourse of anatomy and machinery, and ministered to the birth of its first generation. As spoke the philosopher: "Here's to the new age of gods and monsters." PROGRESS REPORT FIVE: So far, much of our work and our designs have functioned as well or better than expected. But success has eluded us. There have been physiological complications- many we have not foreseen- but I am confident we can overcome those. There are other difficulties that I find more disturbing. Our subjects have not responded well to the program. Like animals raised in captivity, they go into shock when removed from their cages for the first time. In this case, their cage is the physical limitations of their own bodies. They become savage and animalistic or lapse into a dangerous delusionary state. These worthless ungrateful cattle have no understanding of what is happening. They do not appreciate the gift we are bestowing upon them! There is nothing more to be done with them than to move into Stage two as soon as feasibly possible. PROGRESS REPORT SIX: The mindwipe operation is extremely difficult. I could not successfully complete it on my first two attempts. Since then I have discovered one usual side effect. The mindwipe widens the rift (perhaps temporarily) between the conscious and the subconscious mind. This side effect manifests itself in an extreme way- test subjects become desperate to write things down. Some even bite at their own fingers to write in blood on the walls. No sooner do they finish writing than they immediately look over what they have written. None of them seem to recognize or remember their own writing. It seems the subconscious mind, now isolated from the sensation, thought and memory of current experience, becomes desperate to reestablish communication with the conscious mind. It makes me curious to test the procedure on an illiterate subject. I will include any more observations of this phenomena in further reports. It remains to be seen if the procedure will have any settling effect on the subjects concerning their psychological unbalance. PROGRESS REPORT SEVEN: After numerous further attempts there has been no progress in overcoming the psychological trauma attached to the procedure. This is something that could not be anticipated. To acquire life above and beyond the flesh is the path toward which all humanity has been striving for centuries. Yet, when that goal appears to be achieved the result is insanity. So far every subject I have operated upon has fallen prey to this malady- which I call 'metamorphosis-induced schizophrenia', a fear of being changed that manifests itself through a dangerously distorted sense of reality. This condition, while initially psychological, triggers a severe alteration of brain chemistry that has rendered every subject we have worked with completely useless. PROGRESS REPORT EIGHT: Out of sheer frustration I am shifting over to some of the genetics work. I am putting the surgical assembly of AFA prototypes on hold for the foreseeable future. Search teams have discovered numerous fascinating and unusual animal species living in and around the Mount Sion crater. I doubt that any such work will lead to a solution to the metamorphosis-related schizophrenia problem, but for now I will welcome the opportunity to occupy my mind with a fresh set of problems. PROGRESS REPORT NINE: We have manufactured a startling variety of curiosities. If only our goal had been to produce a number of original attractions for a carnival then I would feel perfectly confident in declaring our project a success right now. PROGRESS REPORT TEN: There is a species of insect on this planet, like a carrion beetle, which has a short stubby tail with a stinger on the tip of it. This species is capable of reproducing asexually and normally lays eggs when it has accumulated too many for the capacity of its body. Most of these eggs die because they require a warm dark humid place for them to hatch successfully and there are few places that meet the requirements on the surface of Daedalus. So this beetle locates a victim to sting and injects its eggs under the skin of another living creature. The eggs are provided with a living hatchery that provides the absolute perfect conditions for them to develop and hatch successfully. While handling the specimens we have acquired, Technician Odon was stung. The eggs are microscopic and completely undetectable- until they grow and they hatch and by then it was too late. Odon had come down with what the others here have called 'Hatching Fever'. The body attempts to kill off the eggs like it was fighting an infection. In fact, it only makes the host body more accommodating. I stayed with Odon through a series of his convulsions. He pleaded with me to help him in such a desperate manner that I found it somewhat difficult to assure him there was nothing I could do. He became loudly vocal in his agony. Odon was shouting about how he wanted to live, about some woman from his past, about all the things he wanted to do with his life. Many of the others could hear him and I was afraid that it might begin to affect the morale of the team. So I opened up the back of his skull and attempted to perform the mindwipe procedure. He was certain to die anyway and I thought it better to learn on Odon instead of potentially damaging one of the AFA candidates. The operation went more smoothly than I thought. At first I was afraid that his agitated immune system might reject the RNA-Doppler chip but such fears proved to be unfounded. Odon was still many hours away from death, and when he awoke, I was delighted to discover that his panic was gone. With virtually no past memories left to relate his experiences to he has no apparent negative reactions to being devoured from the inside out by the carrion beetles. I stayed with him until the end. We were able to watch and experience together the creatures burrowing their way out of his body for what it was- a miracle of birth, in its own way as beautiful as the birth of any human flesh. He died playing the flute. It was a very stirring sonata often played by my mother. Hearing it again after so many years brought tears to my eyes. It wasn't until several hours had passed that I realized I had already come up with the solution for the metamorphosis related schizophrenia problem. Perform Stage Two first! PROGRESS REPORT ELEVEN: Inspired by the progress of an engineer in using Phyxx technology to create a flying vehicle, I am now determined to utilize various other elements of Phyxx technology in developing my AFA prototype. PROGRESS REPORT TWELVE: I know that this will be our first successful candidate. Today, it looked into my eyes and I had no words for it. After all, what does one say when one looks into the eyes of his creation? What does one say when one has encountered his evolutionary superior? I must begin again immediately. I only have one potential test subject left, so I must hurry. If all goes well before this day is out I shall have my second success! PROGRESS REPORT THIRTEEN: A reanimated Phyxx soldier has escaped from the Cellbock. In less than an hour it has single-handedly devastated our base. All surviving personnel are being evacuated. I shall join them, but not before I finish this operation. PRELIMINARY TRANSLATION OF WRITING IN NON-RETICULUM LANGUAGES: SOUTH WALL TEXT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE ONE. IT HAS BEEN ENGRAVED INTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: Once this place was the sight of Northern City. It was a beautiful paradise that floated above the ground where Leader/Learners and Worker/Soldiers lived and worked together in peace. This was before the Age of Drastic Upheaval. Northern City was destroyed during the Fourteenth Territorial War when the housing of its gravitational reprocessors was sabotaged. All twenty thousand of its citizens were killed. This was to retaliate against the Leader/Learner Hozg who ordered his Worker/Soldiers to attack Oceanic City over a philosophical conflict with a Leader/Learner there. By the end of the Fourteenth Territorial War 87,000 Soldier/Workers and 11 Leader/Learners were killed. The place known as the Second Northern City was constructed at the place where the Northern City once was, but underground as has become the custom since the Age of Drastic Upheaval. Now that the world population has decreased to such a small number and the wars that threaten to annihilate our people continue, we, the last of the Soldiers and Learners of New Northern City place ourselves into hibernation. It is our hope that we shall awaken in a future age where non-violent social order is possible. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TRANSLATED FROM LANGUAGE TWO. IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ONTO THE WALL AND IS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 110,000 YEARS OLD: //Northern City used to be in the sky above this place. It was much nicer than this city back during the time before the Leader/Learners became dictatorial. A Leader/Learner from old Oceanic City made it fall down because one of our Leader/Learners sent a bunch of our ancestors to attack him after he said he did not like a piece of artwork our Leader/Learner had made. By the time they had settled their dispute they had sent a whole lot of us to kill each other. A few other Leader/Learners died, but not nearly enough of them. After the time when the Worker/Soldiers decided that Learners could not be Leaders anymore they built a new Northern City here. It is not nearly as nice as the old city because they put it underground. At least no one can make this city fall down. Few people came to live here after it was first completed so lots of the city was turned over to workers who run this place. Now that almost everyone is dead, and most of those who are still alive are trying to kill each other we have decided to wait it out in the dream.// COMMAND: -Mastaba Medical Operating Room -Wilm Commander DECEASED -Akala Archeology DECEASED -Brwn Archeology DECEASED -Cheney Archeology DECEASED -Escher Archeology STATUS UNKNOWN -Jankin Archeology DECEASED -Lockhand Archeology DECEASED -Milan Archeology DECEASED -Perius Archeology DECEASED -Sala Archeology DECEASED -Underwood Archeology DECEASED [INSTRUCTIONS] Enter Medical Security Code to gain access to restricted data. [INVALID] Invalid code: access denied. [VALID] Access granted to Dr. Escher. COMMAND: -Mastaba (Medical Operating Room) -Wilm (Commander) -- DECEASED -Akala (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Brwn (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Cheney (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Escher (Archeology) -- STATUS UNKNOWN -Jankin (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Lockhand (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Milan (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Perius (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Sala (Archeology) -- DECEASED -Underwood (Archeology) -- DECEASED SCIENTIFIC: -Amdant Team 1 EVACUATED -Baltis Team 1 EVACUATED -Bendix Team 1 EVACUATED -Borregard Team 2 DECEASED -Crawley Team 1 EVACUATED -Dotto Team 1 EVACUATED -Foshko Team 1 EVACUATED -Foyt Team 2 DECEASED -Garity Team 1 EVACUATED -Harboe Team 2 EVACUATED -Heavener Team 1 EVACUATED -Judges Team 1 EVACUATED -Karloff Team 1 EVACUATED -Kinard Team 2 DECEASED -Odon Team 1 EVACUATED -Paddam Team 1 EVACUATED -Queensburo Team 2 DECEASED -Rainocek Team 1 EVACUATED -Ranous Team 2 EVACUATED -Swertis Team 1 EVACUATED -Tien Team 2 DECEASED -Tolka Team 1 EVACUATED -Urvan Team 1 EVACUATED -Waits Team 1 EVACUATED -Zane Team 1 EVACUATED [] d1892-1120 I can still hear Dane in the other cell. They beat him pretty bad. So bad that they called down from Control and ordered them to stop. I should be treated a little better than that. It's unfitting for any Mondite to die in a place like this. I don't know why I'm writing this down. This log is the only thing I have in my cell besides the picture. Pretty. I wish I knew her name. [] d1892-1344 I guess I always believed that my former comrades would show me mercy, for I was once one of them. Now I know that the exact opposite is true. They see me as a traitor. While they are very capable of inflicting cruelty on a total stranger, as was I when I was one of them, it was just as likely that they wouldn't. In my case, they specifically seek out some horrible form of revenge for me. I can't be saved by fate or random chance. I wish they'd just get it over with. [] d1892-1518 They tell me I am to be turned over to Mastaba. He's a butcher, a psychotic. Those goons can gibber all they want. I can see in their eyes that I'm not the only one afraid of him. I refuse to believe it. It has to be some form of psychological torture. They must be reading this. Do you hear me, Mert? I know you are bluffing! Amdant, you pederast! You don't frighten me. [] d1892-1700 I am being prepped for surgery. I resisted the shocks and injections as best I could but they won. In a minute they'll be back to take me to the Control Level. I wonder if they're planning to do the same to Dane. I wonder how the patient in Cell 3 feels right now. [] d1892-1957 They did it. It's over. Is that the worst you can do, Mastaba, you bastard? [] d1893-0832 I dreamed I was back home. My parents were still alive. I am exhausted and in pain, but I feel like I can pull through this. I need rest. [] d1893-1011 They actually left food for me. I'm not hungry. Too tired to get it anyway. Need more sleep. [] d1893-1228 Somebody rigged one of the Tower bots with an injector and wired in a med software box. It looks like Eng's work. My own private nurse. If I try to get up it will inject me with who knows what. If I lie down it seems to leave me alone. [] d1893-1345 My skull feels like its about to split open. I want to sleep but I can't. [] d1893-1423 That damn robot is watching me every second! It won't let me get up. [] d1893-1501 Mastaba came by to examine me. He looked upset. Perhaps disappointed. Whatever he tried to do to me must not have taken right. They can't operate on me again. I'm too weak now. It'll kill me. [] d1893-1647 Something's wrong. I am hearing a weird trilling noise. It changes pitch from high to low, sometimes in patterns of short bursts and other times in long and constant noise. It's taken me nearly an hour of lying here on this bunk to figure out that it isn't coming from anywhere in the cell. It's in my head! [] d1893-1703 My skin itches all over. It's impossible to lie still. I want to peel it off with my fingers. I'm trying to block out the noise and think of something else but I can't. I just want to sleep. Why won't they let me sleep?! [] d1893-1857 What did they do to me? The robot won't let me off the bed. I know they're watching me on the monitor. The noise in my head is careening out of control. There's blood all over my fingers from the scratching. Maybe they've invented some terrible new way to die and I am the first one they've ever tried it on. I wish it would just happen right now. [] d1893-1935 It's all stopped. It's very quiet. I must rest. [] d1894-0247 It is a very bizarre practical joke. That is the only logical explanation. I love the color. Blue has always been my favorite. [] d1894-0309 I've just read back the entire contents of this journal. I will assume that because I am blue- as is the author from the last entry - that I am the person who wrote it. I may be mistaken about that. I'm not sure. [] d1894-0322 Despite the confinement I have to say that I am very much enjoying this situation. Now that the last of my old thoughts and memories have been erased from my mind I am finally free to become the person that I originally always was. It is a very liberating concept. [] d1894-0345 I saw father again while I was asleep. He wore a red mask. We talked for awhile and he warned me about this fellow Mastaba that I read about in the book. I don't dream about mother anymore. [] d1894-0421 Mother fusses over me so. Every time I try to leave my bed she tucks me back in. I wish she'd stop treating me like a child. [] d1894-0507 Something terrible has happened. I wanted to go for a walk around the room. Mother said that I should rest. We started arguing and in fit of anger, I killed her. What shall I do now? [] d1894-0511 When the guards came I confessed my crime to them. At first they gave me a long look of disbelief, and then they started laughing. I was shocked several times but I was able to make them stop. After they left, I noticed that my food was gone. Perhaps I shall be punished by being starved to death. It is only fitting given the severity of what I have done. [] d1894-0529 Fools! When they took the food, they forgot the fork! I nearly wept when they returned. Imagine my relief when I saw that they had only come to collect what I kept from that young gentleman's face. [] d1894-0613 I know things no one else knows. They think I am mad but I assure you- the fork is the key to my whole world. [] d1894-0642 Mother has gone to a better place, and I have my fork. So far my plan has been working perfectly. [] d1894-0732 I am making significant progress. I am certain that I have nearly succeeded in convincing several of my guards that they are in fact really lizards. We aren't hitchhiking any more, we're riding! [] d1894-0754 The buzzing in my ears has become so loud that I have to scream at the top of my lungs just to hear myself think. Whoever is playing the flute, I wish they'd stop it. [] d1894-0759 Dane down the hall is my only friend. The picture he gave me keeps me company. If I ever see him again I really shall have to kill him. [] d1894-1245 I think I'm starting to get hungry. [] d1894-1337 Now I understand. All along it is I who keep them prisoner. They desperately want to escape here into my world. But they cannot, for I guard them well. [] d1894-1428 Something inexplicable is happening. The world is on fast forward. I no longer understand what people say. [] d1894-1538 Mind makes sense. No feeling the talk out of my face. Time is now a big round circle of things. [] d1894-1612 Chewing when the eyes come. It's so loud these days it's completely dark. [] d1894-1646 What surgery made me? Can't think of it. [] d1894-1925 Lost either myself or else the whole universe somewhere. [] d1894-2222 Hunt the warm. [] d1894-2307 Vacuum. [] d1895-0034 cfktrdxfcgo;aerg'p[zst;iuxdnpm. dfxptoc'f;hgl [] d1895-0329 erpsrtbudghokdy8hdbv lkggpih ;kln;lk [] d1895-0333 -no entry- [] d1895-0517 -no entry- [] d1895-0647 FGCKLCKM C,MB,CLC;NX [] END