by Seth Nelson
They were kind enough to tell me that it’s what makes all of the rods of light work. They also said that it’s a very important machine gifted to them by that God fellow, so I shouldn’t mess with it. I was starting to think they were really nice people, but then they told me that I had to stay in the town forever! They told me that the information was so valuable that they couldn’t let anyone leave with it. I’ve abided by these conditions… for now.
I still want to go places! This desert is fun! I still have to finish my walk! Plus, I don’t really like this place. The place itself is nice, but I can’t help but notice that the people here always give cautious glances as I walk by. Do I look that intimidating, even with the suit on? I plan on leaving tomorrow. I might leave them a note promising I won’t tell anyone.
The 7th of March, 2XXX
I ran all day. One guy, a guard I guess, saw me leave early in the morning. He was yelling at me and telling me to get back here. Once I started to run he began to shoot. Thankfully he had only a pistol, and couldn’t reach me once I had begun running.
I’ve run for about 14 hours so far. I think they’re not following me anymore, but I want to be sure so I might run for a few more.
The 8th of March, 2XXX
I found a bunch of flowers a little ways off the main road, so I decided to pick a few. I love desert flowers. They’re like a diamond ring amongst garbage. They come in all sorts of different colors and provide so much lovely imagery.
Of all the desert blossoms, I can’t help but like the cactus flower the most. The simple elegance upon such a throne of brutal thorns is so enticing, is it not?
The 9th of March, 2XXX
I saw what seemed to be a small camp, or at least what was left of it. There were lots of dead bodies all lying next to one another. Their hands tied up with a rope connecting all of them. There was only one guy not tied up, who was much better dressed as well.
I’ve been thinking about who would do such a thing and the only thing I’ve seen like this was the town with a real building, so maybe it was the guys with suits and masks like mine. They seem bad enough to do this.
Now all I’m wondering is why they would do such a thing, and why nobody has stopped them. I can’t think of a reason for that yet.
I was about to leave while writing this, but something just caught my eye. It’s round and shiny, but also kind of big. I don’t think it can fit in the bag I carry my journal and dictionary in, but I really want it… I guess I could just hold it and put it down when writing or doing other things.
The 10th of March, 2XXX
I just looked back at my early journals and realized that this dictionary has really helped. I’ve started using more words and how much I’ve learned is apparent! I’m learning a lot of words every day. Hopefully I don’t become too verbose.
The 11th of March, 2XXX
I almost ran into a butterfly’s nest today! That would’ve been absolutely terrifying! I was in the middle of sneaking around it when I heard a few gunshots and a car speeding away! I panicked so baddly that I forgot about the shiny sphere and left it there as I ran! There’s no way I can go back there. That’d be way too risky. I can’t go back.
I keep hearing gunshots going in the direction that I’m walking, so maybe if I go slowly enough I won’t catch up.
The 12th of March, 2XXX
I found two of the craziest things today! I was just walking along and came across two corpses. Not just any corpses though, these were insane. One corpse was of a person, and the other of a butterfly! Let me be clear. I SAW THE CORPSE OF A BUTTERFLY!
After the initial surreal feeling I got from the sight, I noticed something about the human corpse. It had on a rather nice blue business suit and an extremely pale head, which was also bald.
The sight sent chills down my spine and gave me a headache for whatever reason. I don’t know why, as I’ve seen plenty of corpses before. It was weird, but not as weird as the butterfly corpse!
What could’ve killed the butterfly? It must’ve been an army! I’m surprised there’s only one human corpse here!
The 17th of March, 2XXX
I wonder when I’ll come across another town. I think there was one a few days ago, but all there really was were coals and ashes. I kind of miss other people. They’re really mean and unsettling at times, but there’s something about them that leads me to wanting to see one again.
The 20th of March, 2XXX
I saw another tragedy earlier today. I was just walking along the road when I heard a truck speed off away from a burning shack. I ran over to it with enough time to hear whoever was inside it scream, but not with enough to save him. I feel kind of sad. Who were those people in the truck? Why did they do this? What did the person who lived here do?
Humanity makes me sad sometimes.
The 22nd of March, 2XXX
I think I see another town in the distance. It’s a little small, but I still might pick more flowers than I did with the last town. Hopefully the lizards don’t bother me this time. They’ve been getting a little too pesky lately.
The 23rd of March, 2XXX
I came back from picking flowers just in time to see the town go up in flames. I’ve decided I’m going to go around its remains tomorrow. What am I going to do with these flowers? I went through all this trouble for nothing. Humans disappoint me.
The sunset would’ve been pretty today if the flames from the town didn’t blind it. What a shame.
The 25th of March, 2XXX
I was washing my suit and mask (using my technique) when I heard a gunshot. I looked around a rock and saw this same truck race off with a lizard in the back of it, along with the two people who I assume shot it.
I wonder why I keep seeing this truck? I guess we’re going the same direction. They seem like a bad group. I still don’t know what they were doing running away from that burning shack. They could be dangerous, so I might walk slower.
The 28th of March, 2XXX
I found a small gorge today. It was littered with that goopy stuff that glows weirdly. I was playing around in it when I saw this big metal door boarded off with huge planks of wood that had “DO NOT ENTER AT ALL COSTS” carved into it. I was going to go in anyway but then I got a huge headache, so I climbed back up to the top of the gorge.
I just realized that I haven’t been actually hurt in a long time. Maybe only my head can hurt. I might have played in the goop for too long. It was fun while it lasted, but maybe I need to stop playing in it from now on.
The 29th of March, 2XXX
I just realized that I’ve taken a circle! The whole trick of “Always turn right” came to bite me in the ass. I found the house where I found this journal! All of the cool machinery is gone though. I wonder where it all went. The books and journals are all gone too. What a shame.
It’s still a nice place though.
The 31st of March, 2XXX
I came to the same intersection I came to after passing the house last time, but this time I turned left. Maybe I’ll end up meeting different people this time.
I’m already seeing new cactus flowers! These are different than the pink ones I’m used to. These are white and yellow as well! They’re so beautiful. I would like to pick them, but then they’d die and I don’t want nature to suffer because I want to enjoy it. That makes no sense.
The 2nd of April, 2XXX
I came across a strange town today. There were only three buildings, but that wasn’t the strange part. All the people were outside, surrounding this box.
One of them saw me and shouted at me asking what I wanted. I didn’t know what was going on and I don’t like to be rude, so I asked him what’s in the box. He must’ve saw all the flowers I picked before hand and liked them, because he let me in the town to see what was in the box. He still had his gun pointed at me though.
It was a dead person. He looked pretty snazzy, with a cowboy outfit on and a big revolver on his hip. They called him the Sheriff, and said that they t
hought he could protect them from anything. Then these people came into town and killed him.
From the looks of his clothes and corpse it seems they gave him quite the beating. His right arm was really twisted and bruised, and he had cuts and gashes all over his torso through his clothes.
The townsfolk said that the only reason their town wasn’t burnt to the ground was because the Sheriff challenged them to a fair duel, which he apparently lost, and said as his dying wish was for the town to be left untouched. They must’ve been some really dangerous people, but at least they were true to their word.
I left the flowers in his box before I left, which made some of the people brighten up. I swear humans really like flowers. I don’t blame them. Flowers are really nice things.
The 4th of April, 2XXX
Have you ever seen a truck up in smoke before? Today was my first day I have. The same truck I kept on seeing speed off was off the side of the road and smoking. There was little fire, and it seems like the front blew up.
It was a relatively nice truck too. It’s a shame that the smoke caught the attention of some animals and insects that ruined the inside. It didn’t have anything inside it. I guess whoever crashed it wanted to keep all their stuff.
I’ll admit. I was a little disappointed. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
The 5th of April, 2XXX
I came across a familiar word in my dictionary earlier today. It was “god”. I couldn’t find the actual definition though. The definition is inked out and has the words “HAS ABANDONED US” written next to it.
I wonder who this God fellow is. He seems pretty nice, helping out that one town, but why did he abandon everyone else? He seems pretty picky-choosy with who he helps out. I guess he doesn’t have enough of those generators though. I can understand that.
The 6th of April, 2XXX
I see a rather large town in the distance, but I got to get some flowers first. I don’t want to seem unfriendly so I need these flowers. People like flowers, so maybe if I give people flowers, they’ll like me!
The 8th of April, 2XXX
Today was the worst day of my life! Right as I walked into town I heard a round of gunshots and screams. I ran in between a few buildings and stumbled upon a horrific scene.
A man was standing amongst a pile of freshly dead women and children. He was in a blue suit similar to the one who was next to the butterfly corpse, but had a gas mask like mine. Another man was holding a shotgun up to him, but he didn’t even seem to care! He had one hand in his pocket, and the other with a pistol just lying by his side.
The man with the shotgun was yelling at him with all sorts of profanities, and demanded for the guy to put down his pistol. He didn’t, but before the guy with the shotgun could shoot him, he was shot in the back of the head. The guy who shot him stepped out from behind another building, and was wearing the exact same outfit as the other guy!
Then one of them happened to turn their head towards me, and immediately began sprinting at me! His composure was completely different than how he treated the man with the shotgun. I was going to run away but then I got another headache. This time it felt like my head was being split with an ax. I hate pain a lot.
One guy pinned me down on my stomach and stabbed me. When I tried to offer them flowers the other one stomped on the hand holding them. I thought humans liked flowers.
Maybe these people aren’t humans. They realized how weak my head-pain made me feel, so they just dragged me into the middle of town where there were two more people who looked exactly the same as them. They said that there was a van coming to pick them up, and that they’re going to take me with them. At least they’re nice enough to let me write in my journal still.
My head is starting to get worse, so I guess I should just take a quick nap…
The 9th of July, 2XXX
Hello, Prince. I am Johnson, the original owner of this body. I shall tell you everything that has led to the creation of you.
The organization that has you captive is called The Nobles, a group of about 80 or so people when I left. They were a group of underground soldiers, mercenaries, and scientists who were surrounded by a lot of secrecy and dirty work. They had a lot of resources before everything was laid to waste. It was because of this that they were better than even the governments once everything got trashed.
They didn’t have any outside connections, and because of that not nearly as many resources as they once did. Their constant experiments went into overdrive, trying desperately to find ways for them to thrive amongst the waste and wreckage of what today’s world is. It was a matter of time before they started requesting volunteers for human experiments, and a matter of even less time before I volunteered.
I know all of this because I was a part of them. You see, I’ve done a lot of bad things. I did a lot of the before mentioned dirty work. I’ve murdered, mugged, stolen, vandalized, destroyed, etcetera. This is why when they asked for volunteers for human experiments I was the first to offer myself.
Their plan was great, in theory. They were to figure out how to take away the restrictions and limits of humans, and even add to them so that we could adapt to and overcome anything. It was to be a grand step towards rebuilding humanity. Sadly, that didn’t happen.
They had me in multiple labs, and began doing all sorts of experiments, many involving torture. They burned, cut, and beat me to force my body to gain resistances. They pumped me full of chemicals and pills to increase the rate in which I could adapt. They even preformed surgeries on me to try and get my body to replicate the chemicals they used on me.
My body was even becoming contagiously toxic and irradiated, which is why they put us in this suit and mask. This is also why they gave everyone else masks as well.
A few of the experiments had miraculous results. I no longer needed food or water. I could still consume it to help gain mass (which I was forced to do for other experiments). I no longer needed to sleep for 6 to 8 hours a day. I only needed about an hour. I was given super-dense bones to withstand the strength restrictions taken off of my muscles. I even got means to secrete a scabby and somewhat scaly armor through my skin. I was on my way to becoming the pinnacle of perfection for the human body.
They eventually began to run low on their resources, and so instead of giving them to me, they focused on the rest, giving them the same no eating or drinking or sleeping that I had, as well as slightly more advanced muscles. I was ok with everything happening, as I knew that all of this was for the best of humanity. I thought that it was the least I could do to repay the species that I had done so much wrong to.
They still continued the experiments, even after we had run out of painkiller. I was broken and re-built into a different being. They added more muscles to my body, and preformed other surgeries to further improve my body.
It was around this time they forgot to turn off the intercom, and I overheard them saying that I was becoming less mentally fit to operate each day, and that they were going to have to put me down. Like an animal. I didn’t want this, but after they realized I had heard them they told me that I was still going to be a huge contribution to humanity, and even that the entire race was in my debt. That was why I let them do the last experiment I remember.
They tried to implant an organ of an electric eel to see if it could produce electricity to enhance brain productivity. The electricity nearly fried me from the inside out. I realized that this was their ploy to put me down, but it was too late. My body could take the damage and probably rebound from it, but they knew that in my mental state the pain should’ve wiped my mind clean.
I was a tough man, and had taken a lot of pain in my previous line of work, but this pain was unbearable. My brain was working perfectly at this point, which is what was wrong. The nervous system was almost literally on fire, and by brain caught that as clear as crystal. I wanted nothing more that to just push the pain onto someone else, to have the feeling taken away from me.
That�
��s where you come into play. I split my conscience into two fragments: Yours, and mine. I hid behind your new and fresh mind and watched you suffer until you pulled of a miracle. You, at only a few handfuls of seconds old, went and turned off your nervous system. You did what I couldn’t: remove pain.
Due to the lack of pain your mentality quickly became very stable, and the scientists saw this. I saw this as an opportunity to let my side of the conscience die, and to let you live your life. But then I realized you were in danger of being corrupted by the cruelties of The Nobles. So for a moment I took control over my body once more and broke free from the lab. This was the same lab that you played in “goop” in front of.