Survivors of What They Saw

One of the main Projects that the Industry is working on called Project Observer has been on the run for its second phase. The first was to establish a portal to connect to a whole new dimension and see if they can gather resources in which they will use for another project. The success of Project Clockwork by the scientist named Cassandra Velasquez led to the achievement of the first phase of the Industry’s Project Observer. And now, moving forward to phase two of their project which is expedition and gathering for research.

Captain Claire Marianne Ward also known as The Warden is in charge of the expedition and has been gathering information and resources. She and her ever expanding team of well-trained soldiers has been at it for over two years now, she has experienced many casualties along the way, but what caught my attention was the case of her small team of Bravo and Delta Scouts. And yesterday I had a sit-down conversation with The Warden herself.

Volta Industry’s Private Interrogation Room.

Subject for Questioning: Claire Marianne Ward

Age: 29

Job Position: Head of Multi-Dimensional Expedition

Expertise: Field Combat Strategist Professional Weapons Engineer 4 Years of Experience in War 3 Years of Experience as a Field Commander

CLAIRE: “Nice to finally meet you Constantine. Word is, that whenever you show up something wrong is happening than the usual wrong.”

CONSTANTINE: “I’m here to know more about your team of scouts that has been recently deceased. I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few questions.”

CLAIRE: “Heh, many of my soldiers have died for the past two years and you’re only asking for that? This bloody industry is more heartless than District Zero.”

CONSTANTINE: “I am only here whenever the Industry needs me here.”

CLAIRE: “Fine, around two weeks ago, I sent out two scout parties to branch out from the Bravo and Delta team to patrol around the perimeter of the most southern part of District Zero... the deadliest part of that site. At first two people died from roamer beasts, nothing new there, until they got swarmed by an entire pack of them. The two teams were greatly outnumbered and had no choice but to run further away from our base. They got separated but comms were still up, both teams were in extremely dangerous territory for us to hurry our rescue team, so we had to carefully take our time. With our communication channels still up and connected to there’s it would’ve been an easy search and rescue mission, until... six hours later, we saw one of Delta’s crew but he began to do horrendous things. He killed himself...”

CONSTANTINE: “Tell me, how did he do it”

CLAIRE: “I’m sorry? Are you here for a bloody fucking bedtime story?! The fucking man killed himself after seeing something fucking ugly probably! He shot his own head with his gun! A fucking father of two children just suddenly did that!”

CONSTANTINE: “Did he said words that didn't make sense? Like the words Him or hello? Did he make a mess of his entire body before ending his life?”

CLAIRE: “He... he did. His body was badly mangled that he couldn’t walk with both legs and... he said something like ‘He is coming’. How did you know that? I haven’t sent any report to the higher ups yet.”

CONSTANTINE: “And I also heard that Bravo team had a similar problem, is that true?”

CLAIRE: “Yes, we got to Bravo team’s site first but... when we got there, the whole team was dead, and two people were missing. When we got to Delta’s we saw so much blood on the site with no bodies but one...”

CONSTANTINE: “Was this one person dead or alive?”

CLAIRE: “Alive, for a short while... We found him and, he was just a torso tied to a boulder with his guts dangly down like a fucking pig in a slaughter house. He told us that the entire crew has gone mad telling him that we should all see ‘Him’... and right after he passed out and died that’s where we saw one of our privates... the guy who shot himself. He wobbled his way to us looking like his been hit by multiple cars and told us that ‘He is coming’. Just before he shoved his shotgun barrel down his throat until he started puking blood before eventually pulling the trigger.”

CONSTANTINE: “Thank you for the information. You see, similar things have been happening to patients around the Industry lately and it has recently happened to one of our scientists. Your works and sacrifices are not in vain, goodbye”

CLAIRE: “Hold up a minute you little shite! You’re telling that this has been happening to our dimension?”

CONSTANTINE: “It is contained within our circle of control as far as I know.”

CLAIRE: “Look, whatever this THING is, it’s making its way out... and I'm sure we’ve both seen what it does.”

CONSTANTINE: “You’re point?”

CLAIRE: “Isn’t it obvious you dumb fuck? We need to shut this project down. It’s killed way too many people already!”

CONSTANTINE:  ...

CLAIRE: “Well?”

CONSTANTINE: “The Industry has reached many heights and it is because of its many sacrifices. We’ve gone too far to stop now.”

CLAIRE: “Holy fuck, so that’s what we are to you crazy shit heads, numbers and statistics. Tell me something, what’s left of your conscience Constantine?”

CONSTANTINE: “My conscience, is clean.”

CLAIRE: “Yeah, well fuck you!”

After this heartfelt conversation, I discovered that this being who is known as Him maybe trying to collect his Harbingers. The two missing soldiers from the Bravo team are still yet to be found and more people have been killed. According to the images given to me from their comms, the dead soldiers were tied up and positioned quite neatly like they were prepared for a sacrifice, autopsy also suggests that there are no signs of struggles or resistance. As of now the two missing soldiers from Bravo team are the only survivors of what they saw, and for a worst-case scenario, I may need to prepare for an up rise of an upcoming cult.

Constantine’s Report

Upon re-evaluating my recent investigation on the anomalies happening around the Industry, the unknown entity that we’ve been expecting to show up in District Zero has been making it obvious that he plans to fall upon us soon. The victims of this entity are patients from Project Deadman and Project Sandman, the head scientist of Project Hello and The Warden’s soldiers. According to the haunted minds of the patients from Project Deadman and Project Sandman we are to expect ‘Him’ to be in contact with us through deadly means. It seems like ‘He’ can only contact us through the means of tampered minds that are enhanced to a point that it can commit natural telepathy with no help from a machine before their bodies break down. But there is still a catch... I noticed that someone or something has been imitating the actions of ‘Him’... a different entity perhaps. The being we are after drove people with enhanced state of neurological advancements into a state of insanity until they die of sudden organ failures. But this other being that haunted one of our scientists, killed her by letting her neck snap after she forcefully turned her head, and the recently deceased soldiers in The Warden’s team were shot and had their throats slit... they were voluntary deaths. They were driven to kill themselves and the message they were trying to deliver was more like an introduction. The unidentifiable body with the words ‘I Am’ and the suicide soldier from The Warden’s team telling us that ‘He’ is coming does not co-respond with the words from the two Lucid patients that claims they saw and encountered ‘Him’. In conclusion, my theory is that they’re maybe two dangerous entities that are haunting our projects and workers. One that drives our enhanced patients into insanity and ultimately leads them to instantaneous deaths, and the other seduces them into loyalty and is trying to mimic the actions of the other being. The answer as to why this is so, is still a mystery. I will be looking into this even deeper and we must still worry about the two missing soldiers in District Zero, I have suspicions that they may begin an uprising of a cult to go against our plans. My estimated level of danger is 6 out of 10, The Warden even suggests to shut Project Observer down in fear of these beings that can rot minds enter our dimension and leave us unprepared for what they can do. I shall wait for your response and further instructions. In the meantime, I will begin a deeper study to understand these anomalies.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCpc8ds-C6GiXNS-FqqA-dGQ

Orders came and the Industry has given me full responsibility in confirming whether or not if my theory about the two entities presenting themselves to us is true. And for me to continue and see if all our projects funnel down to our main goal. During my wait for the Industry’s orders, I've discovered that the last major test for Project Hello before it malfunctioned was at the same moment when the portal that the Warden’s soldiers go through opened. This occurrence may have been the cause of the second entity’s arrival. Though the portal is in a whole different room far away from where Project Hello is, it is still possible... It may also mean it is weaker than entity #1, because it needed the assistance of a portal and a machine before it can control one of our scientists. It also appears that entity #2’s powers are proximity based. The Warden’s soldiers were all victims of it and they may have all been in proximity of its presence. But until the Warden brings back any reports relating to the second entity, I will be focusing here and make sure to keep in track of the progress of various projects in the industry and of course make sure that I keep an eye of any activity that may relate to the first entity. Coincidently, about an hour after I received the Industry’s orders, I was sent a report from one of the handlers of Project Inspire, people from the North-West section of the building. Project Inspire works on a chemical substance that interacts with the human mind keeping them productive for a long amount of time. They came to me giving a report that they said I may be interested in. Their head scientist and his 16-year-old son is now dead while his 20-year-old daughter is missing and to top it all off, there was a report of mass suicide at the school where his children studied. It does sound a whole lot like what entity #2 would do, but there were so many things that did not add up. So with haste, I went to the school with 6 armed personnel from the Warden’s stockpile of soldiers, but once we got there the mass suicide was still ongoing. Parts of the school were on fire, screams and windows breaking can be heard from afar, students and teachers jumping off roofs and there were people standing on flames staring at me straight in the eyes... there was nothing but pure chaos in every corner of the facility. Firemen and the police were in the scene but even they were traumatized and confused as to what’s happening, so I told them to make sure no one gets in and out and that we will handle the situation from the inside. It’ll be a huge mess if the public knew that this situation was caused by us and that this school with a student population of fifteen thousand is affected severely. The soldiers surrounded me with guns up and senses on high alert, but no one was after us, people ran and screamed hysterically pass by us every minute and they’re all either bleeding or on fire. Once we’ve finally reached the school’s main lobby, I noticed one door with a dead body covered in blood leaning on it. The body had multiple scratches on his chest and face with his belly split wide open, the door too had scratches and broken parts, I tried to push it open but it was barricaded from the inside. A woman’s voice then shouted asking who was at the door, so I answered and told them that I was here to help. At first, they hesitated but eventually opened the door revealing a woman in a teacher’s uniform alongside three other students with bloody uniforms. I told the soldiers to guard the door while I talk to the teacher... and this, is what I found out.

CONSTANTINE: “I am here to help, can you tell what you know?”

TEACHER: “Sir... I honestly don’t know. I was just at the teacher’s lounge when suddenly one of our students barged in grabbing pens and pencils and then started stabbing it in her head and face...”

CONSTANTINE: “Calm down ma’am, can you tell me anything that you can recall?”

TEACHER: “There were many other teachers who grabbed Montero to keep her from stabbing herself and then... the other teachers that grabbed her started doing the same thing. I was so scared and when I ran out the whole school was... all the students and teachers... they were all killing themselves...”

CONSTANTINE: “That’s all I needed to know, thank you ma’am... Soldiers! You four! Escort these survivors to safety and make sure no one touches their skin and yours at all cost!”

SOLDIER: “Understood, but what about you sir?”

CONSTANTINE: “These are four people and I'm just one, you’ll need all the helping hands you can get. Now go.”

It was all clear to me then, these people that were driven by the urge to commit suicide were getting infected by each other through direct contact by touching one person’s skin. The teachers that the woman described started killing themselves after grabbing the student. This also explains why she and other students are still sane. The mere fact that she was in the same room with multiple infected people proves that it is not airborne nor it is transmitted telepathically. This also means that this event may not be caused by neither of the two entities. And also, Montero, that is the surname of the head scientist of Project Inspire. His daughter is already dead but long after her brother and father died. I wondered as to why, so I headed straight to the teacher’s lounge to look for her dead body. As I walk the halls of the lifeless while being accompanied by death as he reaps the lives of the people around me made me feel so... angry. The soldiers beside me were practically invisible to me while my thoughts are filled with nothing but anguish. On my way to the lounge, I heard a voice in my head whispering “I will end this, fix this.” I looked around and asked the soldiers if they heard that... but they didn’t.

Eventually, we reached the lounge. Fire crackles on the side while blood drips from hanging bodies and screams behind us can be heard from inside the small enclosed room. I stared straight into the eye of the dead Montero daughter, her body was on the floor with only one eye visible from all the pens and pencil piercing her face. I was trained hard by the Industry to a point that I can tell the difference between a jogger’s and a liar’s sweat... and those screams outside... they were all screams of pain, fear and agony. These people never wanted this, they were suffering... they all were.

CONSTANINE: “You! Hack this computer for me and look for the surname Montero with a female first name. And you, take her bag and look around her notebooks, papers and laptop and check if you can find complex math equations. I’ll be checking her phone.”

SOLDIER #1 and #2: “Yes sir!”

If my theory is correct, the reason she was near the lounge and that the teacher knew her is because she was a frequent visitor there, an honor student. A daughter of a very successful scientist may give her an advantage if her course was closely related to her father’s occupancy.

SOLDIER #1: “Sir I found a match, Angelica Montero. 4th year college student on Chemical engineering, she’s got straight A’s and is top of her class.”

SOLDIER #2: “Sir, I found the equations you were looking for in this notebook. It has twelve pages worth of it.”

CONSTANTINE: “I knew it, she knows about her father’s Project Inspire and tried to help. (Beep) This is Leonard Constantine, authorization level 9. Shut Project Inspire down immediately, I will be sending over a chemical equation and make those people who worked on that project to prioritize this equation and make an antidote as soon as possible! (Beep) You two, talk the police men and fire fighters outside and tell them to capture and tie down anyone left alive in this school and cover themselves up with no exposed skin. Tell them that in no circumstances ever get touched bare skin with the infected and put the entire school on lockdown.”

The situation was later contained and an antidote was made. Hundreds of people were saved while countless others perished by their own hands. I later then confirmed my theory that the daughter had a sure spot in the Industry after she graduates and that she’s been helping her father out on his project. She discovered that the substance her father was creating was highly unstable and she started running the numbers on her notebook to revert the effects. It was too late though, her father came home from work after getting mildly exposed by their experiment. The father and son were the first to get infected and the daughter left immediately just before the effects kicked in, and she most likely had skin contact with either her father or brother before she left. She went to school, hi-fived a few friends while she’s walking towards the teacher’s lounge and the rest is history. Countless lives were lost from such a small mistake... those people that were burning, bleeding, dying, helpless as their bodies moved for them towards death and all they can do is... scream. I’m guessing death will be around me more often, I thought I was already done hearing those screams...