F.O.U.N.D.

Day 30 - Month 12 - Year 0

Third monthly update:

This month has certainly has had its challenges, and as such the publication of the report has been delayed much more than intended. Early on in the month, participants broke into a secure information centre and were unfortunately able to access all of the information documents stored there.

Dr. Animal bypassed our security measures once more in order to participate in the "seasonal cheer" via stealing more documents and distributing them whilst dressed in (stolen) festive attire. His attempts to derail this experiment have has become more of a problem than we thought, and are negatively affecting the research. Currently working hard on a solution.

The Festival of Ends and Beginnings were well received going into the second year of this project, with most participants especially enjoying the gift giving aspect of the holiday. Many homes were also decorated for the season, and attendance of the organised parties was at an expected level.

Hostile interactions:

Claw, who was the cause of mass upset last month when he attacked many participants, has returned. This was not taken well initially, with Obsidian and Yellow in particular being distressed upon his arrival, but Claw appears to have been making reparations to those he hurt, and has generally been allowed to rejoin as before.

Net once again caused panic when he killed participant Celene. Celene has not yet reappeared following this, which is concerning, and may need to be looked into if she remains missing. The news of this attack did not seem to reach most of the Dome, only causing dismay amongst those close to Celene, and those close to Net.

Not necessarily hostile but certainly not positive: Earthshaker sustained an injury when aiding Sika with a magical issue, and has been left with a glowing mark on his chest. Will need to be monitored to ensure no permanent damage has been done.

Positive interactions:

Multiple people held teaparties this month, following encouragement by the Task Board in the shopping district.

Other than the aforementioned squabbles, participants have been much better behaved as a whole this month, perhaps to do with the celebrations to keep them occupied.

Celebrations:

The holidays were received exceptionally well, with people sharing their own traditions as well as partaking in the suggested ones at Spawn. Gift exchanges were highly popular and the majority of participants received a gift from their peers.

Community:

There is now a Task Board in the shopping district. People seem very into this, and monetary prizes have been provided for distribution. It is helping to build a more unified Dome, and is encouraging participants to engage with new inhabitants as they arrive, as well as participants who they haven't interacted with much.

The shopping district itself is flourishing, with more shops being added every week. Participants greatly enjoy trading for items. Could potentially be seen as a bid for control, as it allows them faux independence and usefulness, despite all currency being provided by us.

Other:

We have been pleased to note no suspicion raised towards our moles yet. They are integrating well and the information provided by them has been invaluable.

We as the team behind the F.O.U.N.D. experiment are looking forward to moving into our second year with more confidence and knowledge to overcome the teething problems that this project has encountered.

Day 30 - Month 11 - Year 0

Second monthly update:

An unexpected month all around. We are gaining much insight into the participants reaction to adverse conditions.

Hostile interactions:

During this month, a large fight broke out between many participants and Claw, who was previously mentioned to be aggressive. We allowed the interaction to play out, resulting in the (non-permanent) deaths of 8 total participants, including Archi, Vi and the Wanderer. Following this, Claw was dispatched by Lotus, and has since been unseen in the Dome. General morale amongst the participants was significantly lowered following this attack, but they have all begun to recover and put this behind them.

Positive interactions:

The dragons, by comparison have done exceedingly well with getting along with other participants. Snowbloom appears to be gathering a large friend(?) group, including Madlyn, Cecropia, Celene, Rowan, Wanderer, and Bracken. Earthshaker has also improved his relationship with yellow, and appears to find comfort in their presence.

The interference of Dr. Animal recently resulted in Earthshaker's file being shared with the dragons, causing them to realise the relation between the three of them. So far this has had a positive effect, although all parties were briefly upset by the revelation.

The introduction of new participants has gone well, with many of them, including our informants, having been easily accepted into the community. This will allow us to get far more detailed information regarding the feelings and experiences of the participants.

Issues:

More concerningly, Cecropia has adapted her communicator in order to locate the microchips within each participant. While we are confident that they are impossible to remove, it will prove problematic if participants continue down this path of developing technology to counter ours. One proposed solution is to remove this participant from the dome, but this is currently impossible due to the close relationship between the moth and other participants.

Other:

Community areas continue to be well tended and used by the participants, with the shopping district flourishing. They have adapted to the use of emerald coins well, and we are next considering adding more currency types.

Day 9 - Month 11 - Year 0

First monthly update:

Following the expansion of the dome, participants have shown a variety of responses to the relative freedom, with some remaining mostly isolated, while others have worked on community projects and remained close to the initial area.

Hostile interactions:

One participant, who has chosen the name Net, has been the cause of much infighting between the participants of this experiment. Net has displayed a tendency to act with hostile intent, and attack those around him with no qualms about harming the younger participants. This is intriguing behavior, considering every other participant so far has displayed instincts to- if not care for the children- at least go out of their way not to harm them.

Many participants have reacted badly to Net's attacks, with sides forming between those who are in favour of attempting a more peaceful approach, and those who wish to use violence to counter. Of particular note is the rift formed between Snowbloom and Earthshaker, who were in favour of removing the problem with violence, and participants Revver, Bo, and Claw, all three of whom have shown an inclination towards Net. Earthshaker in particular seems to have been very volatile throughout this month, having fights with all of the above, as well as Taner and Snowbloom. It may be that dragons are more territorial than we previously thought, and having so many in a relatively small area will continue to cause disagreements.

Some participants have begun constructing small areas, made of materials that cannot be phased through, in order to protect the most vulnerable when fights do break out between Net and the others. This is a fascinating response to this situation, and will be monitored to see how this instinct develops as threats change.

Participants Celene and Rowan also had a disagreement during this period, although it seems to have been resolved in the past few days. The disagreement appears to have been regarding a gift given to Snowbloom by Rowan.

Celebrations:

The event encouraging the participants to engage with the Earth "Festival of Hallows" was incredibly successful. Many of the participants chose to dress up, decorate their homes, and attend the bonfire on the final day. It provided a wonderful distraction from Dr. Animals repeated appearance, and the majority of participants appear to be in a more relaxed state following it. There were some participants who were not a fan of the noise of the firework display we set up, but those who fell into this category seemed to still enjoy other aspects of the holiday.

Community:

The sense of community within the dome has been thriving, with Participant Archi organising a system with Participant Iris to ensure a majority of those who frequent the campsite have a group to check on them and monitor well-being. The system has been accepted by most people, with only a few providing resistance on various aspects.

The campsite also hosted a meeting where participants could ask questions and work on solutions to problems together, during which, they decided a location for a hub for shops, across a ravine from the campsite. This "Shopping District" has taken off, with many shops appearing in the short time since the decision was made. We have installed an exchange point to begin circulating the currency of emerald coins, which appears to have been well received by most participants.

The Shopping District also seems to demonstrate the continued dedication to accessibility for those more suited to water- with many ponds scattered across the district, so that everyone can access the area.

Day 13 - Month 10 - Year 0

Initial report: a study of creatures placed in a new habitat

Throughout this first adjustment period, we have been examining the participants closely, and are incredibly impressed by what we have seen. Many of them have chosen to work closely with one another to make the best of the situation, and hostile interactions were few and far between.

After examining them for over a week in this environment, we believe that in order to properly further the experiment, we must expand the area they have access to, and proceed from there as planned.

Participant interactions:

Throughout the first period of containment, we have been keeping an especially close eye on how the participants reacted to unsupervised children roaming the dome. The behaviour exhibited in response to this has been overwhelmingly positive and nurturing, with multiple adults taking in the children and ensuring they are fed and cared for sufficiently. Some examples of these are:

Kiki & Madlyn

Selyo & Mors

Chilli Pepper, Beija, & River

Pip & Shepard and Peama-dae

Enid & Ozias and Elvira

Lütty & Earthshaker, Bo, Bracken and Lorelei

Additionally, participant Argus has been giving children multiple stacks of diamonds. This is unusual behaviour and will have to be monitored for developments.

The Positive:

The majority of the inhabitants of the dome have been existing alongside one another peacefully. Participants Peama-dae and Shepard have settled near the assigned spawn, and appear to be roommates. They are constantly teaching one another new things and performing tasks for each other. The Wanderer also appears to be remaining close by, and Peama risked his life against pillagers to protect Wanderer from the rain.

Archi and Sacha spend many hours in each others company as well, with Archi doing many menial tasks for Sacha despite little appreciation or gratitude. Could this be courting behaviour?

Bo and Bracken are living together, with Bo having promised to protect Bracken. They both appear to be getting on well with the other dragons of the dome as well. The previous assumption that dragons are territorial may need further investigation.

River and Mahlon have become close friends as well, despite not living next to one another, and Whisp and August have attached themselves to Celene.

It will be interesting to observe how many of these initial groups remain after a few months.

The Negative:

There have unfortunately been a few hostile interactions between participants. Taner has shown unfriendly behaviour towards all participants other than Alpan, and may need to be watched more closely. The friendly behaviour of Alpan indicates that it is likely this is a personality-based issue rather than a species issue.

Claw has also been hostile to multiple participants, including Vi, a Light Mage, and both the dragons Earthshaker and Bo. We will have to observe other wolves to see if this is perhaps simply a species incompatibility with dragons.

Argus was, for a time, quite aloof towards most people and hung around the Campsite group and associated participants invisibly. Initially, we had suspicions about his motives. Though, more recently, he has contributed to community projects such as the zombie spawner and is often around to help people who are too injured to get up, spending more time out of his invisible form.

Groups:

The larger groups forming include the Campsite, with Archi, Sacha, Yellow, Chime, and Halcyon living there. Vi, Iris, Mahlon, River, Nanashi, Argus, and Mors spend a lot of time there or nearby, and seem to be Campsite-adjacent.

Close behind are the Pirates, who have been friendly towards most other individuals and seem to be welcoming to participants joining their group. So far the group appears to include Sea King, Revver, Birdie, Sandy, and Selyo, although a range of others have stopped to hang out.

Community:

Walnut has created a survey for the participants to take, in order to make them more acquainted with one another and to encourage camaraderie.

Participant Archi appears to be in charge of the creation of the Campsite to an extent, and has begun creating an extensive path system connecting many of the nearby residences.

Participant Birdie, associated with the pirate crew, created a "community farm" where all participants are welcome to contribute seeds and harvest the crops. Emerging in only just over a week of containment, this is an impressive feature as well as a fascinating response to waking up in an unfamiliar environment.

Participant Vi has in the past few days begun organising a hall for trading, where villagers are imprisoned in rather inhumane conditions. There has been effort made to make the hall suitable for water-dwellers, and it has been placed underneath what was once a normal village. Further examination of this villager-trapping habit must be made, especially regarding its appearance across the dome in other locations.

All participants seem to have been willing to share resources with their peers, including food, gear, and the location of various supplies such as chests and geodes.