ATTN: Board of Directors Tokugawa Industrial Solutions
RE: LOG REPORT - SEVIER LAKE INCIDENT
Assembled by Hideo Sato, Communications Director, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions, Head Office, Tokyo, Japan
Approved by Yushima Kaga, CEO, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions, Head Office, Tokyo, Japan
NOT FOR RELEASE
1987 November 01
Dr. Simone Blackmore, Researcher, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions.
This is Doctor Simone Blackmore, lead biologist at Tokugawa Industrial Solutions Site 16, Sevier Lake Research facility. This is my oral report on the continuing research into the Okhotsk Samples. Assisting me is Xue Chao, a graduate student from Shanghai University. My initial reservations about working with a graduate have proven to have been misguided. Xue is an excellent assistant. Should it be required, I am fully prepared to act as a referee on her behalf.
The results returned from Doctor Stokes’ chemical analysis led me to hypothesise that we are dealing with a Precambrian algae recovered from the Russian tundra, a notion first proposed by Miss Chao. The chemical composition is certainly unusual for organic matter, yet the cellular structure does not resemble any synthetic cell I know about. I would refer you to investigations of Doctor Siegfried Klein into conditions during the Archaen that suggested the extreme environment at geothermal vents, in particular the cocktail of toxic chemicals interacting with liquid water, could necessitate atypical evolutionary strategy, and possibly cause unorthodox development. How such material would end up in the Russian tundra is unclear.
Doctor Stokes wholly is resistant to the idea, and I would once again like to register my dissatisfaction with his attitude and request he be transferred to another facility.
While initial examinations of the surviving batches of samples were undertaken holistically, all further studies will proceed on a batch-by-batch basis, beginning with Batch One and proceeding numerically from smallest to largest. In accordance with this plan, which I have detailed in full in my written report, we began our testing on Batch One. We performed a dye exclusion test on eight cells, and while I believe this to be organic material, it is not alive, the cells tested were all found to be necrotic, with significant damage to the cell wall. Given the conditions in which it was found, and the refrigeration process, this comes as no surprise. DNA extraction proved difficult but is complete, and is now pending sequencing from the aforementioned Doctor Stokes.
Further study needed.
1987 November 02
Dr. James Stokes, Researcher, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions
Shoji, mate, give this a listen.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You hear that? Julio at UMass just sent it in the mail, they’re called The Pixies and I’m absolutely mad for it. This is the future of rock ‘n roll, mate, they’re gonna go big, that or it'll be like Velvet Underground, everyone who hears it is gonna start a band. I’m telling you, mate, they’re so good you’d think they were English.
[MUSIC STOPS PLAYING]
Alright, in the interests of efficiency, I’m going to restate the findings that I’ve already given you once before and what the fuck have you lot got me analysing here? This stuff has the chemical makeup of a smackhead on an all-plastic diet. Ran the tests and that a dozen times, well not actually a dozen times, I ran it twice, but is this some sort of experiment you‘re running? See if the lads in the hole you dug have holes dug in their heads? Simone’s going on about some algae nonsense, she’s been in Xue’s ear about it too, but far as I can tell there’s nowt in here to make me think this isn’t just some sort of man-made gunk, gunk that you then went and put in a jar.
Sure there’s hydrogen, and it’s proper testament to its reputation for abundance in the universe, but no carbon, and never the two in tandem. This is not organic matter, mate. There’s plenty of silicone, though. I’m not being funny, my best bet here is you’ve ground up some Japanese breast implants, whipped up a minimal cell, popped them in a jar, and are testing to see how long you can waste a proper scientist’s time before he goes absolutely mental. Remind me, Shoji, where’d you get your doctorate from? I forgot. Or ██████████████████████████ for that matter.
'Found it in Russia,' my arse, found it in Beverly Hills, more like. The DNA sequencing is gonna come back with the lyrics to ‘Hey Jude,’ innit? Bollocks.
1987 November 04
Shoji Mazuka, Chief of Operations (Site 16), Tokugawa Industrial Solutions
[HEAVY BREATHING]
This is… just a… moment…
[MUFFLED NOISES]
This is… Shoji Mazuka, Site 16 chief of operations, forgive my breathing, I had to sprint to get in before the security team began lockdown for the night.
[DEEP BREATHING]
[BOTTLE CORK POP]
[LIQUID POURING]
For the past two weeks, I have been in Salt Lake City. First was a meeting with ██████████████████████████████, then the Mayor DePaulis. The Mayor is very interested in a site visit, any suggestions on how to delay this visit indefinitely would be appreciated.
I am recording this now as I have not met my own standards. I felt that considering the many languages spoken among the personnel, Japanese, Mandarin, English, American, having streamlined oral reports submitted in a single language, would be of great use for both assessing the progress of the team and for psychological profiling for future programmes. I have a pile of recordings to work my way through this week, and if I record mine now I’ll only be one week late.
Before I left I had the staff fill out a morale assessment form, I’ll start collating the results tomorrow evening. However, the agenda for the fifth must begin with a meeting with Doctor Hatch. I have a number of faxes from Doctor Blackmore, many seem... particular, but I have at least three requesting a meeting with the man, but he is refusing to leave his quarters and has not been seen for some time. I suspect an illness of some sort, so it is best if he keeps to himself to prevent the contagion from spreading.
This brings me to my final point, I am long overdue a meeting with Mister Diehl, our lead engineer. I trust that the equipment he has designed and or maintained is in working order, but I wonder if it can be made to perform better. The possibility of an illness means ventilation and sanitation procedures must be reviewed, I will schedule a full team meeting for later in the week to discuss these and many other agenda items, such as ensuring the pneumatic tubes we use to send these recordings to head office are in top shape. I think they’ll prove most important given the current research project.
[LIQUID POURING]
Oh, note to self, we're out of Hibiki.
1987 November 04
Xue Chao, Research Assistant, Shanghai University
Hello, this is Xue Chao from the Shanghai University again, with my recorded report on Project Hummingbird. And with me today is... Say ‘hi,’ Bluey, say ‘hello.’
[DOG BARKING]
Good boy! Mister Diehl is letting me play with him while he is busy, he is a Yorkshire Terrier, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Yes, you are, come here.
[DOG BARKING]
Today I was very happy with the work I did. Doctor Blackmore agrees with my algae theory. She was very complimentary but I do not feel very brilliant though, I was going off the location the batches were found in and some old theories on abiogenesis around the geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. I thought that the cellular structure we observed matched a lot of the predictions of Doctor Klein in the 1940s.
I asked Doctor Blackmore if I could extract the DNA from the nucleus and she said ‘no,’ but she did say I could assist. I hope I did not overstep my line or whatever the expression is, I would very much appreciate a reference from her when the placement is concluded. Watching her work was very educational. I was worried that the damage to the cells would make extracting the DNA very hard, Doctor Blackmore agreed but assured me she could do it.
She has developed a special device with Mister Diehl that allows her to remove the DNA from the cell directly, which filters any other material away and puts it into an alkaline solution. She says it is delicate to use but is better for when the cell is so ruined. I would love to talk to Mister Diehl about how it works, I was very impressed. For more information, please read my written report. Xue Chao, Fourth of November, Nineteen-
[DOG BARKING]
No! You come here- Nineteen eighty-seven.
1987 November 04
Logan Diehl, Lead Engineer, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions
Logan Diehl, lead engineer, Tokugawa Site 16. It's the fourth of November.
[METAL CLANGING]
Shit.
You ever hear the one about the pneumatic tube? It sucks. There's a reason we haven’t used these since the sixties, the amount of upkeep on them stretches the definition of cost-effective. Each time you send something through them, the air pressure decreases, decreasing the effectiveness of the tube, and meaning more work for me and the maintenance team. Of course, coz I try to be a good boss and not work my boys around the clock, it means I’m fiddling with a pneumatic tube at nine at night when I should be phoning my wife and child.
Also, I think we need to seriously reconsider the security procedures. I was with Security Chief Moreland when he was locking up, and he activated the lockdown using his swipe card and I saw Shoji rushing inside through the CCTV. I went to unlock it using my card and it wouldn't work. He tells me the lockdown must be cancelled by the same code that activated it. Who designed this? Even the most basic secure facilities have at least a master key in case of an emergency. According to Mister Morland, we don’t. I'll see if I can whip something up, but I might need to file a requisition order with Tokyo.
Otherwise, all equipment is functioning normally, even if it appears normal isn’t any sort of acceptable standard. Still no sign of Doctor Hatch, am I the only one who cares about this? Hope he’s okay.
1987 November 06 (approx)
Dr. Andrew Hatch, Research Director, Tokugawa Industrial Solutions
Did I ever tell you about my father, Shoji? He was a GI, drafted and dispatched to repel the Nazi horde after your people murdered thousands at Pearl Harbour. My poor father never got the chance to enact his revenge though, as he was deployed to the European theatre.
[17 SECONDS OF SILENCE]
They said that those that came back from the jungles of Indochina had their minds shredded to madness, a lie. They were fine. Despite his four years soaked in blood and meat, I have never met a saner man than my father… He told me a story of how he drove a bayonet through the throat of a man, twisted it, and ripped it back out with the larynx still attached. He told this story often. His eye never blinked, his expression never shifted. So total was his control.
[24 SECONDS OF SILENCE]
One day he sent me out for milk. He gave me a dollar. On my way there a group of boys accosted me. They noted my obesity and the dollar in my hand. In their minds, they felt that these two pieces of the puzzle fit together in a manner that meant that the dollar was intended for them. They beat me, then took my dollar and no doubt spent it on a thousand whores. When I returned home to my father and told him the story his expression never shifted, his eye never blinked. See, they were the mad ones. That dollar wasn’t theirs, it was my father’s.
[SCREAMING]
END OF SECTION 2